The Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) facility is intended as a laboratory providing the unique platform for experimental research in the field of laser plasma as inertial fusion research, laboratory astrophysics, soft X-ray laser, electromagnetic pulses. The major experimental resource at PALS is the high-power iodine laser system delivering up to 1 kJ of energy at its fundamental wavelength (1.315 µm). Laser system PALS was developed at Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, under the name ASTERIX IV. Laser ASTERIX IV was, in the full-setup, operated there since 1991 (ASTERIX laser was constructed and operated from 1975) until its decomissioning and disassembling in 1997. Afterthat it was moved to Prague. The PALS laser facility, being a joint laboratory of Institute of Plasma Physics and Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, was officially opened on June 8, 2000; from September 2000, it serves as a user facility. Since that time PALS attracted researchers from various European countries such as eg. France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, United Kingdom and USA.
TOPICS
- inertial fusion confinement
- fast ignition
- shock ignition
- aneutronic fusion reactions
- particle acceleration
- laboratory astrophysics
- plasma jets
- shock waves
- strong magnetic field generation
- soft X-ray lasers
- electromagnetic pulse generation and mitigation
- high-energy density chemistry
- origin of life
- laser plasmachemistry
