Vulcan is a Petawatt (10
15 Watts) laser facility available to the UK and international research community. This unique facility delivers a focused beam – which for 1 picosecond (0.000000000001 seconds) is 10,000 times more powerful than the National Grid – to support a wide-ranging programme in fundamental physics and advanced applications. These pages contain information about the
laser and the
experimental areas it supports.
The scientific areas that are explored using the Vulcan facility include:
- Interaction of super-high intensity light with matter
- Physics of fusion energy research
- Photo-induced nuclear reactions
- Electron and ion acceleration by light waves
- Astrophysics in the laboratory
- Exploration of the exotic world of plasma physics dominated by relativity
For more details see the scientific highlights pages.
