Cover caption：In recent years, China has made significant strides in the development of ultrafast and ultraintense lasers. Currently, ten high-intensity laser systems with peak powers exceeding 100 terawatts are operational, while approximately ten additional systems are under construction at various research institutions and universities across the country. These facilities, whether operating independently or integratedly, provide critical infrastructure for advancing research in high-energy-density physics for both domestic and international scientific communities.
Among natural and artificial light sources, lasers stand out as the highest quality light sources due to their exceptional characteristics, including excellent directionality, high brightness, and strong coherence. These properties have enabled lasers to become indispensable tools across a wide range of scientific and technological fields. Particularly, the rapid advancement of high-intensity lasers has positioned them as powerful instruments for exploring and transforming the world. Their development has opened new avenues for modern scientific and technological progress and has significantly expanded the boundaries of human knowledge.
Intense laser systems can be classified into two categories based on differences in pulse energy and pulse width: "high-energy" and "ultrafast and ultraintense." High-energy laser systems typically feature pulse widths ranging from several nanoseconds and output pulse energies spanning from kilojoules (kJ) to megajoules (MJ). An example of such a high-energy laser is the National Ignition Facility (NIF), developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States in 2009. China has also established a Shenguang series of high-energy laser systems. Due to their relatively long pulse widths, these high-energy lasers generally achieve intensities of 1012-16 W/cm² when focused.
In 1985, G. Mourou and D. Strickland revolutionized laser technology with their invention of chirped pulse amplification (CPA), a breakthrough that earned them the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. This technique dramatically shortens laser pulse widths to the femtosecond scale, achieving peak powers that were previously unimaginable. Unlike high-energy laser systems, these ultrafast and ultraintense lasers may not output huge pulse energy, but their intensity after being focused can surpass 1018 W/cm², thanks to their extremely short pulse widths. At such intensities, electrons move at nearly speed of light, opening up new frontiers in relativistic physics research.
Ultrafast and ultraintense laser systems can be further categorized into two types. The first type is based on Nd-glass amplification and operates in the picosecond range with energies reaching tens to huandreds of joules. The second type leverages CPA or optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) technology to generate femtosecond pulses. These femtosecond systems typically have pulse widths of tens of femtoseconds and have already achieved peak powers of up to 10 PW.
High-intensity laser systems enable researchers to create extreme conditions in laboratories that were previously unattainable. In micrometer-scale spaces, these systems can transiently generate environments characterized by temperatures exceeding >109 K, densities surpassing >100g/cm3, ultrastrong magnetic fields (>109 G), and pressures >109 atmospheres. These high-energy-density conditions offer unprecedented opportunities for investigating novel physics, phenomena, and applications under extreme conditions. Recognizing their strategic importance, nations worldwide have been developing high-intensity laser technology and building associated facilities.
China has made significant progress in the development of ultrafast and ultraintense lasers. To date, ten high-intensity laser systems with peak powers exceeding 100 terawatts have been established across various institutions.The Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Research Centre for Laser Fusion of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics in Mianyang, and the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing were among the first to initiate the construction and research of these sophisticated laser systems. Over the years, other prominent institutions such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Atomic Energy, the National University of Defense Technology, and Shenzhen Technology University have joined this field. On these facilities, research primarily focuses on physics and applications in fields such as laser-driven electron acceleration, ion acceleration, ultrafast X-ray emission, terahertz radiation, laser nuclear physics, and laser nuclear fusion. Additionally, approximately ten high-power laser systems with peak powers exceeding 100 terawatts are currently under construction in China.
A review paper on the above ultrafast and ultra-intense laser facilities and related high energy density physics studies was published in High Power Laser Science and Engineering Vol. 13, Issue 1 (Yutong Li, Liming Chen, Min Chen, Feng Liu, Yuqiu Gu, Bing Guo, Jianfei Hua, Taiwu Huang, Yuxin Leng, Fei Li, Lu Li, Ruxin Li, Chen Lin, Wei Lu, Zhihui Lyu, Wenjun Ma, Xiaonan Ning, Yujie Peng, Yang Wan, Jinguang Wang, Zhaohua Wang, Zhiyi Wei, Xueqing Yan, Jie Zhang, Baozhen Zhao, Zengxiu Zhao, Cangtao Zhou, Kainan Zhou, Weimin Zhou, Jianqiang Zhu, Ping Zhu, "High-intensity lasers and research activities in China," High Power Laser Sci. Eng. 13, 01000e12 (2025) )
It should be pointed out that this paper only introduces the ultrafast and ultra-intense lasers with peak power > 100 terawatts and their scientific research activities. There are many different types of ultrafast laser and ultrafast scientific research work in China, which are not covered in this paper.
