The first company in Europe to produce targets for high powered laser fusion experiments has been started at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
Scitech Precision can design and make the tiny samples which research teams across the world fire expensive high powered lasers at in the name of physics. The targets, which can be between 50 microns to a few millimetres in size, are usually made from metals, silicon, plastics or fibres. Production involves precision CNC machining and techniques from the MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) sector.
Laser targets are increasingly being used in energy and medical research. Projects investigating the possibility of achieving nuclear fusion using lasers, such as the European Hiper project, and the National Ignition Facility in the US, use cone-like objects made from materials such as tritium, deuterium, beryllium. Cancer researchers are using thin foils of different materials, including hydrocarbons, to generate ion beams to kill cancerous tumours.
Dr Kate Ronaye, director of Scitech Precision, said: “We are working on new ways of making larger volumes of the targets. This is no longer blue sky research – if you want a laser that is ten times more powerful, but doesn’t cost tens of millions, changing the target can change the science and increase the amount of energy out for less money.”
“The real challenge with this work is thinking of new ways of doing things. When you handle very small objects the physics you know no longer applies. Gravity, for example, takes on a whole new significance. Just picking something up and moving it is hard.”
The company has been spun out of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) and is co-located with other research projects, such as the Diamond Light Source and the Central Laser Facility.
Professor Mike Dunne, Director of STFC’s Central Laser Facility said: “The launch of a company such as Scitech Precision in the current climate shows how vibrant the laser research community is, and demonstrates the leading role played by the UK in this field.
“The parts made by the company will allow pioneering high power laser research into fundamentally important areas such as security, healthcare and renewable energy.”
© PE Publishing, 27 January 2010
