The ZEUS laser at the University of Michigan has achieved 2 petawatts of power—twice that of any other U.S. laser—during its first official experiment.

The ultrashort pulse lasts only 25 quintillionths of a second but reaches over 100 times the global power output.

ZEUS is a user facility open to researchers and has applications in medicine, security, materials science, and astrophysics.

Scientists aim to generate high-energy electron beams using laser-driven wakefield acceleration, with future plans to reach a zettawatt-equivalent interaction, Phys.org has reported.

The facility, smaller and more agile than major national labs, continues to upgrade toward 3 petawatts.

Written by B.C. Begley