Laser research in Europe set to revolutionise our lives!

In partnership with The European Commission
Laser research in Europe set to revolutionise our lives!
By Aurora Velez
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The EU is pursuing cutting-edge research with the international 'Extreme Light Infrastructure' (ELI) project. As part of the groundbreaking work, the world's most powerful laser is being built

It looks like any other ordinary, quiet town.

Yet in Dolní Břežany, on the outskirts of the Czech capital Prague, the world's biggest laser is being built by a top international team!

More than 300 scientists and engineers work at the ultra-modern laser research facility in the town. 

The estimated cost of the pan-European project is over 270 million euros, most of which comes from the European Regional Development Fund.

The centre is one of three pillars of European laser research, with other centres in Romania and Hungary.

Chief Scientist and Scientific Coordinator for Laser Technology, Bedrich Rus, told Euronews:

"We are building here two lasers, so the peak power of the two lasers we are assembling here is 1 petawatt and 10 petawatts. These are the values which are currently the highest ever obtained by laser technology.” 

There is more to come, though, Another even more powerful laser will be up and running in the coming months.

For now, this cutting-edge facility is not fully open to the media. Euronews was not allowed to film some of the equipment.

But eventually, researchers, academics and private firms will be able to make the most of it, practically free of charge.

Italian scientist Daniele Margarone, who leads the research programme, said: "We are developing an innovative technique to accelerate ions and make them compact and, in theory, more economical than the current acceleration techniques. One potentially interesting use is a medical application in treating tumours that we hope to see in 10 or 20 years time."

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