About LaserNetUS

As a graduate student, LaserNetUS has been crucial for both providing me with the means to obtain my thesis data and also the training and expertise from the network of scientists, engineers and staff at these premier laser facilities. I’m very grateful for the access I’ve been able to have at these consortium of laser laboratories and also the opportunity to learn about the exciting research being done at each facility at the annual LaserNetUS meeting.

I’m excited to see how LaserNetUS fills a critical need in North America identified in our NAS report “Opportunities in Intense Ultrafast Lasers: Reaching for the Brightest Light”, to establish and maintain a network of coordinated user facilities where any scientist from academia, national labs, or industry can propose research at a range of complementary petawatt-class lasers. This concept enables and accelerates research across a broad array of fundamental and applied science. The varied science that can benefit from LaserNetUS facilities ranges from elementary particles to high density plasmas, geoscience to medical science, and attosecond physics to high energy astrophysics. The enhanced cooperation and coordination brought about by the network promotes petawatt laser utilization for truly transformative science.

LaserNetUS was invaluable for completing my PhD research in plasma physics from Princeton. The creation of the network not only gave us access to high-quality lasers with capabilities exactly tailored to our goals, but also let me submit a successful proposal as a student researcher. Data from our campaign at Colo. State University made it possible for me to write my thesis and start off a career in high-density plasma physics.