Overview
The Petawatt High-Energy Laser for Heavy Ion EXperiments (PHELIX) is a versatile laser facility delivering intense laser beams with energies up to 1 kilojoule or likewise powers up to 500 terawatt. PHELIX is a flashlamp-pumped Nd:glass system employing two frontends (fs- and ns-frontend), a pre-amplifier and a main amplifier. It was built in close cooperation with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the US and the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) in France.
PHELIX serves three experimental areas: At the Z6 experimental area the worldwide unique combination of intense laser radiation with heavy ion beams generated at GSI’s accelerator facility (UNILAC) opens the door for interesting experiments in the field of plasma physics, nuclear physics and atomic physics. In addition, stand-alone experiments with intense laser beams can be carried out for studies such as proton acceleration or X-ray laser generation. For moderate beam intensities up to 10 TW the laser laboratory with an additional pulse compressor and target chamber are available.
For the generation of extreme laser intensities of > 1020 W/cm² the chirped pulse amplification scheme (CPA) is used where a sub-picosecond laser pulse is stretched in time, amplified and recompressed afterwards. High energy beams are generated by the nanosecond frontend, which delivers arbitrary pulse shapes and pulse durations between 1 and 10 ns.
Laser parameters:
long pulse | short pulse | |
|---|---|---|
Pulse duration: | 1 - 10 ns | 0.5 - 20 ps |
energy: | 0.3 - 1 kJ | up to 200 J |
Max. Intensity: | 1016 W/cm2 | 2 1021 W/cm2 |
Contrast: | 50 dB | down to 120 dB |
Scientific output
PHELIX is being used to explore various fields of science mostly related to plasma physics and atomic physics. Visit the PHELIX Publication page for more information and the latest scientific publications based on data gathered at PHELIX.
