Live presentations in the courtyard (JETI laser, blowpipe)

The JETI is a titanium-sapphire laser that generates pulses with an output of 40 terawatts (40 million megawatts). This corresponds to the output of 25,000 large nuclear power plants, but is only achieved in a very short time - less than 30 femtoseconds (1 fs = 10-15 s). For experiments, the diameter of the laser beam is reduced from 6 cm to less than 3 μm using a focusing mirror. We thus achieve intensities of over 1020 W/cm2! When such an intense pulse hits matter, temperatures of over 100 million °C are generated, making it as hot as inside the sun!