I’ve fired one of America’s most powerful lasers – here’s what a shot day looks like

A lead laser scientist described the process of firing the Texas Petawatt (TPW) laser, one of the most powerful in the United States, located two floors below ground at the University of Texas at Austin. From 2020 to 2024, the scientist was the lead laser scientist on the TPW, which was part of LaserNetUS, a Department of Energy network. The laser amplifies a tiny pulse of light to carry more power than the entire U.S. electrical grid for a brief instant before compressing it to a trillionth of a second. TPW is currently closed due to funding cuts, but during its operation, scientists applied for time to use it for research ranging from stellar interiors to fusion energy and cancer treatment. A typical "shot day" involved hours of preparation, starting at 7 a.m. to coax the laser awake and perform alignment checks before the final shot sequence.