Laboratory for Laser Energetics

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South Campus

Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Laboratory for Laser Energetics around 2007 with the Sproull Center under construction

Laboratory for Laser Energetics after completion of the Center for Optoelectronics Imaging

The Laboratory for Laser Energetics was established in the fall of 1970 in the first floor of Hopeman Hall. A four-beam Delta laser was installed in Gavett Hall in 1971 and groundbreaking for a new building on South Campus was held in October 1975, which was opened in 1977.

The Center for Optoelectronics Imaging was housed in a building attached to the LLE, which opened in July 1993, and the a new Omega EP laser was dedicated at the Robert L. Sprull Center in 2008.

Ground was broken in August 2022 for a new $42 million, 66,000-square-foot expansion to house office and lab space.

References
1970 "UR Tries Lighting with Laser's Help," Democrat and Chronicle, September 25, 1970, Page 14.

1971 "More Power to the People," Rochester Review 33(2):11-14 (Summer 1971)

1976 "Cornerstone Set for Laser Fusion Lab," Campus Times, April 5, 1976, Page 1 | Part 2 |

1976 "$46.5 Million Laser Lab at University," Rochester Review 38(4):34 (Summer 1976)

1977 "Recreating the sun at UR," Democrat and Chronicle, April 24, 1977, Page 1B. | Part 2 |
"There's no question that in the long run nuclear energy will be running the world."

1977 "Laser Fusion – the Answer to the Energy Crisis," Rochester Review 39(3):15-17 (Spring 1977)
We think that fusion will be making significant contributions to the energy economy of the United States by the year 2000 to 2010.

1978 "Six beam laser dedicated and test fired at UR lab," Campus Times, October 18, 1978, Page 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

1980 "Laser Lab completes OMEGA; most powerful laser in world," Campus Times, September 15, 1980, Page 1 | Part 2 |

1987 "New optics center," Campus Times, April 30, 1987, Page 9A
The UR will soon be the home for a Center for Optoelectronics.

1993 "Merging Light and Electronics," Rochester Review 56(2):6 (Winter 1993-94)
In July, the University joined the battle with the opening of the Center for Optoelectronics and Imaging.

1995 "World's Most Powerful Ultraviolet Laser Comes On-line," June 6, 1995

2006 "Laser Lab Awarded," Campus Times, January 26, 2006, Page 4
Extended Performance Omega Laser

2008 "Rochester's Omega Laser, One of the World's Most Powerful, Receives 50-Fold Power Increase to Become 'Petawatt' Laser," May 16, 2008.
Dedication of the new Omega EP (Extended Performance) laser facility at the Robert L. Sproull Center for Ultra High Intensity Laser Research at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE).

2010 "Highlighting the History of the LLE," October, 2010

2018 "Rochester breakthrough in laser science earns Nobel Prize," October 2, 2018

2021 "Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics receives $82 million in funding," LaserFocusWorld (January 8, 2021)

2021 "Illustrated LLE History Updated," May 3, 2021

2021 "Seven-tenths of a yellow sun," The Economist 439(9251):77-78 (June 26, 2021)
An old joke about nuclear fusion—that it is 30 years away and always will be—is so well-known that The Economist’s science editor forbids correspondents from repeating it.

2022 Construction begins on new Laser Lab expansion, August 17, 2022

2023 University of Rochester to receive $17M towards new laser system, September 25, 2023

2023 NSF funds multi-institutional design of world-leading EP-OPAL laser at Rochester, September 25, 2023

2024 Laboratory for Laser Energetics opens doors on pivotal building expansion, May 31, 2024