OSE Seminar by Dr. Chengyong Feng on Next-generation Ultra-broadband Front-end for Multipetawatt Laser Systems
Departmental News
Posted: September 22, 2025
Date: Thursday, September 25, 2025
Time: 12:30 PM to 1:45 PM
Location: CHTM, 103 and Zoom
Speaker: OSE Alumnus, Dr. Chengyong Feng, Laser Scientist; Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester
Abstract:
Ultrahigh-peak power lasers are revolutionizing scientific discoveries that require extreme optical fields. The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics is leading the NSF OPAL project, a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation, to design and prototype two 25-petawatt (25×1015 watts) lasers using optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification, as well as associated experimental and diagnostic systems.
In this talk, I will give a brief overview of the laser architecture and discuss in more detail the design and prototyping of an ultra-broadband front-end for NSF OPAL. I will focus specifically on the latest demonstrations of nonlinear spectral broadening and wavelength red-shifting of ultrashort pulses using state-of-the-art multi-pass cell technology, which represent key steps towards the high-quality, ultra-broadband seed generation.
Biography:
Chengyong Feng is a Staff Scientist at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). He earned his PhD with distinction from the Optical Science and Engineering Program at the University of New Mexico in 2016. After a short post-doc at UNM, Chengyong joined LLE in 2017 where he leads the research and development of high-average-power ultrafast lasers and novel nonlinear pulse compression techniques. He is currently leading the design and prototyping of an ultra-broadband front-end for the NSF OPAL project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation to design and prototype a laser facility with two 25-petawatt beams.
