In a research center in Romania, part of the European Union’s Infrastructure ELI project, engineer Antonia Toma activates the world’s most powerful laser. This laser, located near the Romanian capital Bucharest, is operated by the French company Thales and harnesses Nobel prize-winning inventions. France’s Gerard Mourou and Donna Strickland of Canada won the 2018 Nobel Physics Prize for their work on this technology. The Nobel Academy’s citation praised the sharp beams of laser light for deepening our knowledge about the world and shaping it.
Mr. Mourou expressed his emotions about the project, describing it as an “incredible odyssey” from the U.S. where he spent 30 years to bringing it to Europe. He explained that this process began with a small luminous seed with very little energy which was then amplified millions of times to produce phenomenal powers and a huge step forward in laser technology. Potential applications of this powerful laser include treating nuclear waste by reducing its radioactivity or cleaning up space debris, according to Mr. Mourou. He envisions the 21st century as the era of the laser, akin to the last century being the era of electronics.
