News & Updates - NSF OPAL

- NSF OPAL System
  The proposed NSF OPAL system parameters and capabilities significantly extend the current state of the art in ultrahigh peak power, ultrafast lasers and will serve national and international research communities for decades to come.
- System
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  - Main Target Chamber
- Frontier Science
  NSF OPAL will allow the creation and study of extreme physical conditions, such as ultrahigh electromagnetic fields, temperatures, and pressures that represent the frontier of science in studying matter in the Universe.
  
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- Frontier Science Working Groups
- People
  Led by principal investigators from the nation’s leading universities, the NSF OPAL team is working to design and prototype the key technologies necessary for a state-of-the-art laser facility.
- People
  - Principal Investigators
  - Project Team
- News and Events
  NSF OPAL news, event updates, media and publications.
- News and Media
  - News
  - Events
  - Publications
- Get Involved
  Discover different ways to stay involved with the NSF OPAL project.
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Resources

Group photo of conference attendees gathered on the steps of Rush Rhees Library at the University of Rochester. Participants face the camera in front of the library's grand columns and historic entrance on a sunny day.

PIF26 Brings the Strong-Field QED Community to URochester

The University of Rochester welcomed the international strong-field physics community to campus for Physics in Intense Fields 2026 (PIF26), the latest edition of a conference series that traces back to…

An image of an optical table containing NOPA5 in the MTW-OPAL laser facility.

Where Laser Science Goes Next

The technology at the heart of NSF OPAL has its roots in a discovery made decades ago at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). Chirped-pulse amplification — the technique that…

NSF-AFOSR Next-Generation Optical Materials and Components for High-Power Lasers Report

The Next-Generation Optical Materials and Components for High-Power Lasers Workshop was convened to address a critical bottleneck in laser technology. This brief report outlines the resulting strategy, which focuses on…

NSF OPAL highlighted in Optics & Photonics News’ March 2026 issue

The article, “Ultraintense Lasers: Reaching for the Brightest Light”, highlights NSF OPAL as a next-generation research infrastructure advancing ultrahigh-intensity laser-matter interactions.

Antonino Di Piazza Receives ERC Synergy Grant

November 12, 2025

Antonino Di Piazza, NSF OPAL Co-PI, is part of an international team that has been awarded an approximately $16 million USD, six-year European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant.  

Danae Polsin Receives 2026 Neil Ashcroft Early Career Award

November 11, 2025

Congratulations to Danae Polsin, a leading contributor to the Laboratory Astrophysics and Planetary Physics (LAPP) frontier science working group for NSF OPAL, on receiving the 2026 Neil Ashcroft Early Career…

LLE and NSF OPAL Leadership Visit ELI Beamlines in Czechia to Strengthen Global Collaboration in High-Field Laser Science

October 22, 2025

Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) Director, Chris Deeney, and NSF OPAL Project Director, Jon Zuegel, visited the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) Beamlines facility near Prague, Czechia.

Post-CDR Community Update

September 4, 2025

During this event, the Project Team provided an update to the community about the status of the facility design following the Conceptual Design Review (CDR) held in April.

Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester: Where Education Meets Innovation

NSF OPAL is discussed in a video highlighting the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) with Executive Office emblem in background.

Franklin Dollar Receives 2025 PECASE

January 15, 2025

Franklin Dollar, NSF OPAL Co-PI, has been honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest recognition from the U.S. Government for early-career researchers.

How POWERFUL of a Laser Can We Make?

December 23, 2024

NSF OPAL project Co-PI, Franklin Dollar, recently appeared in an NSF video talking about lasers, high power lasers, and Death Stars.

NSF OPAL: Laser System Design and Critical Technologies

November 9, 2024

NSF OPAL Lead Laser Scientist Jake Bromage provides an overview of the laser architecture and cutting-edge technologies that form the foundation of the NSF OPAL system.

Donna Strickland and Douglas Dykaar visit LLE in September, 2024.

An Inspiring Visit from Donna Strickland

October 8, 2024

Nobel laureate Donna Strickland and her husband Douglas Dykaar visited with the NSF OPAL (Optical Parametric Amplifier Line) design team at LLE.

NSF OPAL Flagship Experiment Selection Report

August 30, 2024

The Flagship Selection Report details the selection of experiments that will guide the NSF OPAL midscale research infrastructure (RI-1) project that will design and prototype critical systems for a new,…

Is a gamma-ray laser possible?

Led by NSF OPAL Co-PI Antonino Di Piazza, a team of researchers have secured National Science Foundation funding in collaboration with colleagues from ELI Beamlines in the Czech Republic to…

NSF Announcement of RI-1 Awards

September 25, 2023

The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Rochester nearly $18 million over three years to design and prototype key technologies for the NSF OPAL facility.

MP3 Workshop Report

November 23, 2022

The Multi-Petawatt Physics Prioritization (MP3) Workshop Report captures the outcomes from a community-initiated workshop held April 20-22, 2022 at Sorbonne University in Paris, France.