The ATLAS R&D Center is expected to be completed by mid-2026!
Construction of a powerful new laser research facility on the Foothills campus of Colorado State University will begin this month. Scheduled to open in mid-2026, the facility is the culmination of 40 years of laser development research at Colorado State University, a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science's Fusion Energy Science Program, and a $150 million strategic public-private partnership with Marvel Fusion, which launches in 2023.
The new building will be called the Advanced Technology Laser Applications and Science (ATLAS) facility. A major focus of the facility's research is laser-driven fusion as a viable clean energy source.
When completed, the facility will be equipped with an upgraded version of an existing ultra-high-power laser developed at CSU, as well as two new lasers provided by Marvel.The ATLAS facility will consist of a suite of high-intensity, high-repetition-rate lasers that can be configured to fire simultaneously at a single fusion target. The burst will deliver nearly 7 tapped watts of power to a focal point that is approximately 100 μm in diameter. The three UHP lasers can also be used individually or in other combinations to study problems beyond fusion energy.
In addition to fusion and basic science research, the ATLAS facility will also support interdisciplinary research such as medicine. Among other things, lasers could be used to deposit energy in very localized areas to treat tumors. Other potential research at the facility includes microchip lithography and design as well as detailed X-ray imaging of fast-moving objects, and the combined existing and new facilities will be collectively known as the Advanced Lasers for Extreme Photonics (ALEPH) Center.
In addition, the LaserNetUS program awarded the university $12.5 million, and a $16 million award was made to launch the Center for Inertial Fusion Science and Technology. These grants support research using existing facilities on campus, including upgrades to the high-power ALEPH laser.
CSU's leadership in laser research is largely due to the work of University Distinguished Professors Jorge Rocca and Carmen Menoni. They are both members of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, while Rocca also holds a position in the Department of Physics and Menoni in the Department of Chemistry. Both have been leading interdisciplinary research on the topic at the University for many years.
