Central Laser Facility ( CLF ) is a research facility in the UK. It is part of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory . The facility is dedicated to studying the applications of high energy lasers . It was opened in 1976. As of 2013 there are 5 active laser laboratories at the CLF: Vulcan , Astra Gemini, Artemis, ULTRA, and OCTOPUS. The facility provides both high-power and high-sensitivity lasers for study across broad fields of science from atomic and plasma physics to medical diagnostics, biochemistry and environmental science . Also through the Centre for Advanced Laser Technology and Application (CALTA), CLF is responsible for laser development. DiPOLE is the brainchild of that project.
23-510: The Vulcan is the first operational laser at the CLF. By 1997, when a new director was appointed, M. H. R. Hutchinson, formerly of Imperial College London , CLF was also operating a second laser, the Titania, at that time said to be the world brightest krypton fluoride laser . The Vulcan is the world's most powerful laser user facility. It emits a light beam in the petawatts. The construction of
46-475: A mirror moving close to the speed of light will have higher peak power than the incident light because of temporal compression. Using a dense relativistic electron mirror created from a high-intensity laser pulse and nanometre-scale foil, the frequency of the laser pulse was shown to shift coherently from infrared to the ultraviolet. The results elucidate the reflection process of laser-generated electron mirrors and suggest future research in relativistic mirrors. It
69-432: A single short pulse on target with a long pulse beamline, It is configured to deliver the highest intensity via a large parabolic mirror. As with Target Area West, various pulse configurations are possible. Vulcan can deliver 500J on target in a compressed pulse of 500fs giving a peak irradiance of 10 W/cm in a 5μm focal spot. This performance is not possible solely by Nd:glass amplifiers, since gain narrowing would reduce
92-594: Is achieved in various ways, including: According to its Annual Report from 2017 to 2018, STFC expects the end of the ISIS pulsed neutron source and the associated Second Target Station to be in 2040 and anticipates decommissioning to take 55 years. The cost of radioactive waste disposal could range between £9 million and £16 million. RAL was used as a set for the filming of an episode of Terry Nation 's BBC TV series Blake's 7 . The computer-generated imagery (CGI) for Ridley Scott 's 1979 film Alien were created at
115-700: Is an infrared , 8-beam, petawatt neodymium glass laser at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory 's Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It was the facility's first operational laser. It is designed to deliver irradiance on target of 10 W/cm for a wide-ranging experimental programme in fundamental physics and advanced applications. This includes the interaction of super high intensity light with matter, fast ignition fusion research, photon induced nuclear reactions, electron and ion acceleration by light waves, astrophysics in
138-795: Is designed to deliver trained manpower and economic growth for the UK as the result of achievements in science. RAL is named after the physicists Ernest Rutherford and Edward Appleton . The National Institute for Research in Nuclear Science (NIRNS) was formed in 1957 to operate the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory established next to the Atomic Energy Research Establishment on the former RAF Harwell airfield between Chilton and Harwell . The 50 MeV proton linear accelerator
161-602: Is geared towards plasma physics experiments. The Artemis produces XUV light . The project was started in collaboration with the Diamond Light Source to study atomic/molecular physics, surface science, and material science. Artemis can also be used to study autoionisation dynamics and ultrafast demagnetisation. By combining laser, detector and optical tweezers , ULTRA provides molecular dynamics to study physical and life sciences. The multiple arrays of ULTRA allow great flexibility to combine multiple beams across
184-598: The Rutherford Lab ; then in 1979 with the Appleton Laboratory to form the current laboratory. It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It has a staff of approximately 1,200 people who support the work of over 10,000 scientists and engineers, chiefly from the university research community. The laboratory's programme
207-594: The Functional Biosystem Imaging (FBI) Group. In April 2013, it was announced that the CLF has won a contract from the HiLASE project. The HiLASE facility is situated in Dolní Břežany , Czech Republic . The contract is worth £10 million to CLF and the whole project costs £30 million. The bid was won thanks to the development of a high-energy diode pumped solid-state laser system ( DiPOLE ), which
230-795: The SRC became the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) in the early 1980s, and in 1994, the SERC was eventually divided into three Research Councils (the EPSRC , PPARC and the CCLRC – which took responsibility for RAL from EPSRC in 1995 ), so that each could then focus its development around one of three incompatible business models – administratively efficient short duration grant distribution, medium term commitments to international agreements, long-term commitments to staff and facilities provision. To unify
253-573: The UK, RAL also operates departments to co-ordinate the UK programme of participation in major international facilities. The largest of these are the areas of particle physics , and space science . In particle physics the largest international project is the Large Hadron Collider at CERN , but RAL has a major role in the UK participation in several other projects such as: In space science , RAL builds components for, and tests satellites, as well as receiving, analysing and curating
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#1732779813864276-611: The core of the Vulcan was carried out by Kværner Engineering and Construction to specifications on par with those in the nuclear industry. The chamber is lined with aluminium and lead to reduce radiation. Vulcan, initially a 0.5 terawatt two beams neodymium laser, was first upgraded in 1980 to a 6 beams 1.5 TW laser. Power was again increased in 1982, to 3 TW. Astra Gemini is a dual-beam Titanium:Sapphire laser system. Most Ti:Sapphire lasers are single beam. The Astra Gemini has 2 amplifiers that emit 0.5 petawatt beams. The two-beam system
299-403: The data collected by those spacecraft. Satellite missions in which RAL has a significant role include: In recent years, there has been an increasing political drive towards requiring that the science undertaken at RAL and the technology created there result in a proportional economic benefit to the UK to justify the investment of public funds in the laboratory. RAL management has argued that this
322-607: The decommission of Target Area East. Target Area West operates with dual short pulse beamlines delivering intensities of 10 W/cm for pump-probe experiments using F3 focussing optics, other configurations are available. Six long pulse beams can be configured alongside the short pulses in multiple configurations, including single side cluster, cylindrical and spherical compression. The long pulse beams can be operated with pulse lengths from 0.5ns up to 8ns and energy from 50J to 300J per beam. Various pulse configurations can be set, including pre and post pulses. Target Area Petawatt provides
345-638: The foundation of the Central Laser Facility. To be able to decide the priorities for government funding across all areas of scientific research, the Science & Technology Act of 1965 created the Science Research Council (SRC) which took over management of the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory from NIRNS along with many other previously disparate UK science bodies. To prioritise economic impact over blue skies research ,
368-664: The incorporation of facilities from other institutions to provide the benefits from economies of scale . The major mergers were in 1975 with the adjacent Atlas Computer Laboratory creating the Rutherford Laboratory, and then in 1979 with the Appleton Laboratory to form the current Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. With the closure of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1998, some small offices also moved to RAL. Similarly, laser technology moved to RAL from Joint European Torus at Culham to become
391-465: The laboratory and the exploration of the world of plasma dominated by relativity . In 2005 the Vulcan laser was the highest-intensity focussed laser in the world, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records, capable of producing a petawatt laser beam with a focused intensity of 10 W/cm . There are currently two active target areas, Target Area Petawatt and Target Area West, Following
414-484: The planning of the provision for UK scientists to access large national and international facilities, in 2007 the CCLRC merged with PPARC and incorporated the nuclear physics discipline from EPSRC to create the Science and Technology Facilities Council which then took responsibility for RAL. The site hosts some of the UK's major scientific facilities, including: Also hosted are: In addition to hosting facilities for
437-579: The pulse bandwidth below a limit required to support the pulse duration. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory ( RAL ) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory , merged with the Atlas Computer Laboratory in 1975 to create
460-424: The spectrum in different timing and pulse lengths. Ultra manipulates microscopic particles suspended in liquid in such a way that the forces are not intrusive or destructive. The OCTOPUS is an imaging cluster. Many different methods of imaging are offered there, such as multidimensional single-molecule microscopy , confocal microscopy (FLIM, FRET, and multiphoton), and optical profilometry . It operates as part of
483-506: Was developed by CLF scientists. In collaboration with laser facilities around the world, PETAL (France), OMEGA-EP (USA) and FIREX (Japan), CLF is studying the feasibility of using fast ignition to create an inertial fusion energy. The HiPER facility is planned to be constructed in Europe with panellists from 9 countries overseeing the studies. Albert Einstein proposed as part of his theory of special relativity that light reflected from
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#1732779813864506-441: Was not previously possible to combine high pulse energy with high repetition rate. The Vulcan was a high pulse, low repetition (in order of pulse per hour) laser. Others, while they can put out many pulses per second, were limited to lower energy. DiPOLE will enable combination of the two. 51°34′21″N 1°18′57″W / 51.5726°N 1.3159°W / 51.5726; -1.3159 Vulcan laser The Vulcan laser
529-524: Was transferred from the Atomic Energy Research Establishment to the new laboratory to become a national facility for particle physics as the Nimrod . Some components of this linear accelerator are still operating as part of the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source injector linac over 50 years after their first use. Since then the laboratory has grown both with the expansion of its established facilities, and
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