Small-format color transparency made with multiple teleconverters and a telephoto lens

University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Rochester, New York, United States

Twenty-four high-power laser beams are focused on a one-millimeter gold-coated ball that creates a very high-temperature ionized gas visible in this photograph as bright spots. The laser beams each have a peak power approximately equal to the instantaneous electric power production of the United States. The pressure conditions on the target amount to tens of millions of atmospheres. These experiments are being carried out to develop inertial fusion as an energy source.