The Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester (UR) was established in 1970 to investigate the interaction of high power lasers with matter. It is home of the Omega Laser Facility that includes OMEGA, a 30 KJ UV 60 beam laser system (at a wavelength of 0.35 um) and OMEGA EP, a four-beam, high-energy, high-intensity, short -pulse (ps) laser capable of petawatt operation on two of the beamlines.

NNSA's Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion and the National Ignition Facility Project, sponsors the National Laser User's Facility (NLUF) program through the NNSA Service Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The NLUF facilities are maintained and operated by the UR/LLE for NNSA.

Approximately six run-weeks of the annual operating time of the Omega Laser Facility will be utilized for the NLUF in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Additionally, UR/LLE researchers are available for scientific collaboration and for assistance with user experiments. Outside researchers are encouraged to collaborate with staff members.

The NLUF offers capabilities for high energy density physics laser-matter interaction experiments or for using short, nanosecond pulses of laser light, X-rays, or neutrons for probing the structure of matter.

Photo Caption: Above, students and advisor Dr. Richard Petrasso of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center work on the detector proto-type tests that were implemented at the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, where the inertial confinement fusion implosions were then conducted.  This work was based on research performed largely under NLUF contracts.  The NLUF is the principal means by which  the MIT high energy density physics program has been able to conduct such cutting edge research.