Asger Risom
Scientists hit 2 petawatts with the ZEUS laser, opening new possibilities in medicine, space science, and particle physics.
The most powerful laser ever fired in the United States just released more energy than all the electricity used on Earth—compressed into a flash shorter than a blink. It happened at the University of Michigan, inside a gym-sized lab, where scientists are using light to unlock the deepest workings of the universe.
The laser, aptly named ZEUS (Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System), hit 2 petawatts—that’s two quadrillion watts—in a single test shot.
That’s 100 times more than the combined electricity output of the entire Earth, concentrated into a single pulse that lasted just 25 quintillionths of a second.
Despite it lasting only 25 quintillionths of a second, the scale and precision mark a major leap for science.
What Makes ZEUS So Powerful?
Lasers work by concentrating light into tight, high-energy pulses. ZEUS takes this to extremes. Its first experiment involved firing a pulse into helium gas.
This stripped electrons from the atoms and created a plasma—a supercharged state of matter. The freed electrons then rode the light like surfers catching a wave, gaining speed in a process called wakefield acceleration.
One of the great things about ZEUS is it’s not just one big laser hammer, but you can split the light into multiple beams.
said Franklin Dollar, a physicist from the University of California who oversaw the experiment.
Later this year, scientists plan to fire another laser in the opposite direction at those speeding electrons.
This setup will mimic conditions with one million times more apparent power—earning ZEUS its “zettawatt-equivalent” name.
Why It Matters
ZEUS could help create compact versions of particle accelerators—machines typically the size of stadiums—at a fraction of the cost and space.
It could also improve medical imaging, boost cancer treatments, and even simulate extreme space environments like black holes and gamma-ray bursts.
The fundamental research done at the NSF ZEUS facility has many possible applications, including better imaging methods for soft tissues and advancing the technology used to treat cancer and other diseases.
said Vyacheslav Lukin, program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation.
As reported by Popular Science, ZEUS cost just $16 million to build. For scientists, it’s not just a breakthrough in power—but in possibility.