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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

Toward lasers powerful enough to investigate a new kind of physics:

In a paper that made the cover of the journal Applied Physics Letters, an international team of researchers has demonstrated an innovative technique for increasing the intensity of lasers. This approach, based on the compression of light pulses, would make it possible to reach a threshold intensity for a new type of physics that has never been explored before: quantum electrodynamics phenomena.

[...] Installed in the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) facility at INRS, the researchers limited themselves to an energy of 3 joules for a 10-femtosecond pulse, or 300 terawatts (10¹² W). They plan to repeat the experiment with an energy of 13 joules over 5 femtoseconds, or an intensity of 3 petawatts (10¹⁵ W). "We would be among the first in the world to achieve this level of power with a laser that has such short pulses," says Professor Kieffer.

"If we achieve very short pulses, we enter relativistic problem classes. This is an extremely interesting direction that has the potential to take the scientific community to new horizons," says Professor Kieffer.

Journal Reference:
S. Yu. Mironov, S. Fourmaux, P. Lassonde, et al. Thin plate compression of a sub-petawatt Ti:Sa laser pulses, Applied Physics Letters (DOI: 10.1063/5.0008544)

Original Submission