This summer, the Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) hosted interns as part of the Reaching a New Science Energy Workforce (RENEW) program - a DOE Office of Science initiative aimed at developing a strong, diverse workforce pipeline through partnerships with minority serving institutions.
The interns, Alexandra Koleva and Aliyah St Louis-Alleyne from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), were hosted by JLF director Félicie Albert and mentored by Dean Rusby and Matt Selwood. The mentors brought the interns onto their respective experiments, allowing them to explore different uses of the Titan laser - a unique laser platform combining high-energy pulses with long and extremely short pulse lengths.
"JLF is a user facility, and by pairing the interns with the experimental teams led by Dean and Matt, we were able to offer them a unique experience doing hands-on work and learning about lasers and high-energy-density science," Albert said.
Koleva and St Louis-Alleyne had no prior experience with high-power lasers, but throughout the internship, they developed the skills and understanding to take ownership of the experiments they took part in with Selwood and Rusby.
For example, the interns participated in a dual X-ray and neutron generation experiment, which they helped to build from scratch. Rusby led the X-ray generation experiment and Selwood the neutron experiment, giving the interns an understanding of how each imaging source is generated and to explore the idea of multi-modal radiography - capturing a radiograph of an object with two different sources along the same line of sight at the same time.
When a material is driven to extreme temperatures and pressures using a laser like Titan, different x-ray sources are used to understand what happens to a sample's properties under these conditions. X-ray and neutron sources provide complimentary, but different, information about objects based on the different ways they interact with them.
"Both Dean and I were once Alex and Aliyah, being undergraduate interns at a laser facility in the UK," Selwood said. "Seeing students given the same opportunity to experience such a unique experimental physics lab is wonderful."
In addition to gaining experience with experimental laser science, Koleva and St Louis-Alleyne also attended the annual LaserNetUS meeting in Austin, Texas. LaserNetUS is a network of high intensity laser systems across North America, which JLF is a founding member of. Participation in this event gave the interns an opportunity to engage with the rest of the LaserNetUS community and learn about opportunities in the field.
The JLF internship has been a unique supplement to the interns' undergraduate studies, giving them new insights that they will bring back to FAMU as they each continue pursuing degrees in physics. "I really enjoyed learning about the different laser applications and current laser projects being done at all of the [LaserNetUS] facilities," St Louis-Alleyne said.
Outside of their time in the laser facility, the interns felt right at home within LLNL - with Koleva playing beach volleyball alongside the other interns and scientists during breaks and St Louis-Alleyne noting that one of her favorite parts of the experience was getting to know fellow interns and staff.
"In this short time at LLNL, I've learned more than I did in a year of school," Koleva said. "Experience really is the key to understanding everything you've learned so far. I was fortunate to be in a great place with great people, which made all the difference."
-Lilly Ackerman
