The UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has been awarded £85m to upgrade its Vulcan system, with the aim of turning it into the most powerful laser in the world.

The Central Laser Facility’s (CLF’s) current Vulcan laser has been delivering 1 petawatt (PW) pulses for more than 25 years. In contrast, the new laser will feature one beam capable of delivering 20PW pulses, alongside eight additional high-intensity beams producing a pulse energy of up to 20kJ.

The updated Vulcan 20-20 will support the work of scientists studying nuclear fusion, plasma, new renewable energy sources and electromagnetic fields.

“This is a 20-fold increase in power, which is expected to make it the most powerful laser in the world,” said funding body UK Research and Innovation. The laser is expected be a “million, billion, billion times brighter than the brightest sunlight” in the world. And a single pulse from the laser will deliver more power than the entire National...