In the UK, the world's highest gain high power laser amplifier has been developed. This path-breaking development can result in new modalities in radiotherapy that can be used to treat cancer. The plasma based laser has been developed at the University of Strathclyde that can amplify sounds from the rustling of leaves to sound of jumbo jets.
Phys.org describes how the world's highest gain high power laser amplifier works. Two energy laser pulses are made to collide, one is a long high energy pulse and the other is a very short, low energy pulse. The collision produces a beat wave, which can be compared to what is produced when two waves of water collide. Plasma electrons are driven by the light patterns that turn into normal echelon. The world's highest gain high power laser amplifier uses the of the concept of Raman amplification in plasma, which a combination of theories of revered Nobel laureate CV Raman along with plasma, optical and laser physics.
The flexibility of plasma as a high gain medium is demonstrated explicitly in the results which have been published in Scientific Journal reports. The world's highest gain high power laser amplifier has incredible efficiency, as large at 10 percent, and could be further improved. To still achieve a high gain and high-efficiency module there is a need to understand the laser system clearly says, Strath.uk. Such laser pulses which are intense can be used fundamentally to extract particles from vacuum, conduct nuclear fusion or recreate conditions similar to those inside stars.
They might face challenges ahead with respect to dealing with amplification of noise that is caused by fluctuating radiations that is exacerbated due to high gain. This further gives way to undesirable channels through which energy goes. The team is positive about their current situation and expect to overcome the challenges. Plasma itself is such a ubiquitous medium that can help them tackle the difficulties. European Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) is a project which has three research centers where the world's highest gain high power laser amplifier and similar high powered lasers will be available.
