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 (short pulse- and long pulse-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 four experimental areas: In the PHELIX building, an experimental area is set up just for intensive laser experiments, where the laser pulses are used, for example, to accelerate protons, electrons and neutrons or to generate X-rays.
The “Z6” measuring station offers the unique opportunity to combine intense laser radiation with the heavy ion beam of the universal linear accelerator (UNILAC) at GSI. This opens up the possibility for interesting experiments in the field of plasma, nuclear and atomic physics.
Combined experiments with the ion beam from the SIS and with PHELIX can take place at the “HHT” measuring station. PHELIX is used here, for example, to generate X-rays that can be used to study plasmas generated with the ion beam.
For the generation of extreme laser intensities of more than 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. The light from this front end can be doubled in frequency if necessary: The color is then no longer in the infrared, but in the visible green range.
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.
