PHELIX - A petawatt high-energy laser for heavy ion experiments

Abstract

The unique combination of an intense heavy ion beam accelerator and a high energy laser opens the possibility of exploring new physics taking advantage of the synergy of both facilities. A variety of new fields can be addressed with this combination in plasma physics, atomic physics, nuclear- and astro- physics as well as material research. In addition, using CPA-technology (Chirped Pulse Amplification), laser pulses with a pulse power of up¹ to a petawatt opens the door to explore the regime of fully relativistic plasmas. Therefore the Gesellschaft fün Schwerionenforschung (GSI) is augmenting the current high intensity upgrade of the heavy ion accelerator facility with the construction of PHELIX - a Petawatt High Energy Laser for heavy Ion Experiments. Designed with two pulse-generating front ends and send to multiple experimental areas PHELIX will serve as a highly versatile laser system for various applications¹. In this report, we present the design of the laser system, and some key experiments that can be performed with this combination for the first time.