Progress on Laser Development at the Extreme Photonics Applications Centre

The Extreme Photonics Applications Centre (EPAC) is a new state-of-the-art laser facility being built at the Central Laser Facility (CLF) to study applications of laser-driven sources in industry, medicine, and security [1]. The first laser system to be built in the facility is a petawatt laser delivering 30 J, 30 fs pulses at 10 Hz pulse rate that will be used to drive plasma accelerators. Figure 1 shows a layout and schematic of the EPAC petawatt laser that will be housed on the second floor of a new dedicated building completed in April 2022.