The most powerful lasers in the world can reach up to 10 petawatts (10 quadrillion, or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 watts) of emitted light. They are used to study extreme plasmas and other rare phenomena in the universe. Scientists are also planning to build a 100 petawatt laser that will be used to tear energy from matter in empty space.
X-ray laser provides a window on cellular life By ZHOU WENTING in Shanghai | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2021-06-29 09:03 Share CLOSE The world s third soft X-ray free-electron laser facility recently achieved full coverage of the wavelengths of the water window in Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]
The world s third soft X-ray free-electron laser facility, based in Shanghai, recently achieved full coverage of the wavelengths of the water window , which will allow scientists to observe live cells.
Observations of the characteristics, internal structure and dynamic changes of cells at the femtosecond level－a quadrillionth of a second－are expected to lead to new insights in live cell imaging and discoveries in materials research, physics, chemistry and biology, experts said.
China is building a laser that can produce 100 quadrillion watts – about 50,000 times the planet’s total power consumption a light so intense that it would equal the amount of power our Earth receives from the Sun.
Station of Extreme Light
At the heart of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF), due to go online in 2025,is a single cylinder of titanium-doped sapphire about the width of a Frisbee. After kindling light in the crystal and shunting it through a system of lenses and mirrors, the SULF distills it into pulses of mind-boggling power, achieving an unprecedented 5.3 million billion watts, or petawatts (PW), reported Science.