Ultra-strong laser can evaporate substances

Romanian scientists have developed a record-breaking 10 megawatt laser, which is equivalent to one-tenth of the energy produced by the sun on Earth. In addition to letting someone or something evaporate, it is mainly used for research purposes. Scientists from three countries will use this super-light laser to study photonuclear properties, cancer medicine, radiation research, and more.

In 2014, the Extremetech website once described a 1 megawatt laser as the "Star of Death", and the laser developed today is ten times stronger. The laser was developed by the European Commission through an “ultra-light infrastructure” (ELI) project with an investment of 850 million euros. The project includes facilities in Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The Romanian laboratory used it to study photonuclear physics. The Hungarian facility experimented with attosecond (1x10-18 seconds) laser pulses. The group of the Czech Republic studied short-pulse secondary sources and particles.

The ELI project plans to build a fourth laser laboratory that is one order of magnitude higher in intensity, but has not yet been selected for it. The shape of a 10 MW laser may not be what most people think. It is located in a sealed chamber and is moved by several vacuum tubes with focusing lenses, which the researchers can't even see. Instead, they read the relevant data from the computer.

Researchers can use this laser to study the effects of supernovae and how heavy metals are formed. As for practical applications, it may help protons treat cancer. It may also help to find ways to handle radioactive waste.