July 28--Researchers and engineers at the Departent of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) have been awarded an R&D 100 Award for their tunable energy recovered high-power infrared free-electron laser (FEL).
The FEL is principally funded by the Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research. Rear Admiral Jay Cohen, chief of Naval Research, says, "ONR has a long history of teaming with remarkable scientists, engineers, and technicians. We are pleased to be able to provide funding to JLAB. We have every reason to expect that they will be dedicated to providing work that results in unique, high-power, tunable, 24-hour capability, that is well suited for Department of the Navy, industrial, and scientific applications."
The Jefferson Lab FEL, based on technology developed for the Department of Energy nuclear physics program, provides a scaleable path for high laser output power. Materials processing with lasers in now a $1B a year industry but is still limited in many applications by the availability of cost-effective high-power lasers. The development of the Jefferson Lab FEL technology substantially expands the capability of production lasers and enables new applications that were in the past not considered due to economic considerations.
For more information, contact Linda Ware, [email protected], DOE/Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.