Research by Jessica L. Shaw, M.S. ’13, Ph.D. ’16, a staff scientist at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), was featured on the cover of Nature Photonics.  The featured article highlights breakthroughs in laser amplification and compression using plasmas — an approach that could enable laser pulses to reach intensities beyond the limits of conventional solid-state laser systems. Achieving on-target laser intensities exceeding 10²³ W/cm² is a major challenge for scientists exploring new frontiers in physics, including strong-field quantum electrodynamics. Plasma-based amplification offers a promising way to boost the power of existing high-intensity laser systems by as much as tenfold, without the need to build additional large-scale laser infrastructure.  Using a technique known as Raman amplification, Shaw and her team demonstrated record-setting power amplification and energy-transfer efficiency, along with the shortest laser pulses ever produced by a laser-plasma amplifier.

Shaw earned her UCLA degrees in electrical engineering.