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One of the most interesting projects that is being implemented today at the National Research Institute of MEPhI is the creation of a unique multifunctional kilojoule laser installation "ELF" (ELF – Experimental Laser-Physical installation; English: ELF - Experimental Laser Facility). This laser is also needed by world science, but it is also needed by the university, since large, preferably unique installations today are a necessary accessory of any university that claims to occupy a prominent place in world science. The creation of the installation is supported by the Priority 2030 program.

Equipment like the "ELF" performs three functions: firstly, it should allow obtaining world-class scientific results that would be embodied in highly cited publications; secondly, it should allow students to work on powerful expensive installations similar to those they will have to deal with in research teams after graduation and, thirdly, it should contribute to the inclusion of the university in the world scientific agenda.

The idea was to create not just a powerful laser, but a laser with a "user interface" that could be useful in research by scientists from different laboratories and institutes. That is, the installation should become a provider of a "universal scientific service". The fact is that today powerful lasers can be used in experiments in a variety of scientific fields – such as thermonuclear fusion, plasma physics, extreme states of matter and even laboratory astrophysics. The latter area, which has gained popularity recently, is perhaps particularly interesting - it involves modeling with the help of lasers in laboratory conditions of processes similar to those that occur in the bowels of stars and during supernova explosions, and thus drawing conclusions about the physics of the Universe.

According to Andrey Kuznetsov, director of the Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies at MEPhI, ELF should work in the "photon factory" mode, generating laser pulses according to the "orders" of scientists working on it, who can request laser radiation with certain parameters – the desired energy, spectrum, duration and time form of the pulse, as well as with a set of related diagnostics.

In the world, kilojoule power laser installations are usually created by countries that have the technology to create even more powerful megajoule power installations. There are now five such countries in the world: the USA, France, Russia, China and Japan, and a similar installation in Germany is made of elements left over from a dismantled American laser. At the same time, university installations often work in tandem with national mega-level installations. This applies both to the laser that is installed in France at École polytechnique, and to what is available in the USA at the University of Rochester. The fact is that an experiment on a megajoule power plant can cost millions of dollars, but it can be significantly cheaper if some of the "components" of the experiment – for example, the intended modes – are worked out "on a small scale" on university lasers. Meanwhile, in Sarov, VNIIEF specialists are already creating a laser mega-installation UFL-2m, "additional" in relation to which the "ELF" will be. By the way, the close interaction of laser mega-installations with nuclear power is also a world tradition.

The idea of creating an "ELF" appeared around 2015. In 2018, it received the support of the Academy of Sciences, in 2020 an agreement was signed on the creation of a laser installation between the MEPhI, VNIIEF and the Institute of General Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (later FIAN joined the same agreement). In 2021, the project received the support of the Priority 2030 program.

The basis for the "ELF" was the element base of the kilojoule laser installation "Luch" already existing in Sarov, which is partially dismantled (2 out of 4 channels remain in it). However, we are not talking about creating a copy of the "Beam". Over the past two years, a working group consisting of employees of VNIIEF and the MEPhI Research Institute has proposed an original scheme for amplifying laser radiation. If in the standard scheme of the "Beam" it was possible to generate a laser pulse with an energy of the order of one kilojoule, then in the "Elf", if you believe the calculations, with the same input energy costs, you can increase the pulse energy to 6 kilojoules. This is an unattainable level of energy for such installations. That is why the "ELF" should become a unique scientific equipment.

It is planned that the ELF will have two channels: one will generate a pulse with an accuracy of 10-20 nanoseconds, the second is even more "precision" - with a picosecond pulse duration, and this also makes the installation unique: there is a shortage of kilojoule power lasers in the world, and installations in which two could be used simultaneously there is no beam of nano- and picosecond duration in the world at all. The unique properties of the "ELF" will allow it to "work" within the framework of research inaccessible to other existing laser installations, to study the properties of materials under high-speed deformation, the propagation of shock waves in matter, to study many properties of hot plasma that can be useful both to astrophysicists and in the design of thermonuclear reactors.

Currently, the infrastructure for the placement of the laser is being created. The installation will be located on the ground floor of the research and laboratory building of the MEPhI Research Institute in rooms with a total area of 600 square meters, and its heart will be a "Laser Hall" with an area of 300 square meters, where large-sized laser-optical equipment will be located in a "clean zone".

photo: Vacuum target chamber of the ELF laser complex

Information and photos provided by the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI

Posted by Irina Usyk

The information is taken from the portal "Scientific Russia" (https://scientificrussia.ru/)