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Orion (laser)

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Orion is a large laser installation in the UK, and forms part of the UK's Atomic Weapons Establishment on the former RAF Aldermaston. It is known as the Orion Laser Facility.

History

West Berkshire gave the £183m project planning permission in 2006.

Structure

The laser recreates the conditions of a thermonuclear explosion, by inertial confinement fusion. A 1mm-wide fragment is placed inside a six-tonne aluminium sphere and bombarded with a laser from ten directions. Two other lasers shine on the fragment, and it is heated to around 10 million degrees C. It allows experiments in plasma physics.[1][2]

15% of the laser's time is spent on academic research, which is allocated through the Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire.

The laser is a neodymium glass solid-state laser.[3] The laser has a short petawatt power.

See also

References

  1. ^ February 2014
  2. ^ Nature March 2010
  3. ^ STFC

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