Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

This thumbnail looks like a hornet's nest, but it is actually the target chamber of the world's most powerful laser which resides in the National Ignition Facility test facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California (something the government does right). The laser recently achieved a 500 TW pulse, which for a brief moment is more power than the entire U.S. uses at any instant. I look at the photos of all the machinery and electronics involved and, as with the Large Hadron Collider and similar installations, am in awe of the people who design, build, and operate them. Many of those people spend all their waking hours creating and exploiting their contraptions while often sacrificing relationships, health, and other opportunities. The world has been built on the backs of hard workers of all disciplines. We (yes, I include myself) are the 50%.

Posted January 2013

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...