Cameron Geddes, a dark-haired person wearing a black suit, poses for a headshot.

Expanding discovery

Sensing for society

Clean energy

Precision simulation and control

Applying ion beams

 A capillary discharge waveguide. Scientist in a hair cap and goggles work on accelerator technology. Scientist working with red lasers on a benchtop. Scientific diagram of the interior of ALS-U. Three scientists looking at a large glowing laser table. Three scientists work on a large piece of scientific instrumentation. BELLA, the Berkeley Laboratory Laser Accelerator emitting a glowing green light. Purple background with lighter rays moving from the left to right side of the composition. Fusion magnet. Scientific figure. Colorful scientific image. Scientific figure. End view of a radiofrequency quadrupole accelerator (RFQ) shows the intricately shaped structures inside the linacs. Colorful scientific diagram. Scientist working on a cabling machine. Copper wires. Soil imaging with neutrons diagram. Scientist in a glowing control room. Lieselotte Obst-Huebl, a dark-haired person wearing glasses and a yellow sweater, poses for a headshot.

Lieselotte “Lotti” Obst-Huebl is a research scientist in the ATAP Division’s BELLA Center. Her research is focused on the relativistic interaction between ultra-high intensity laser pulses and plasmas. In experiments at the BELLA Petawatt Laser she investigates, for example, how ion beams generated in these interactions can be used for fundamental studies in radiobiology and high energy density science.

 Dan Wang, a dark-haired person wearing black glasses and a pink sweater, poses for a headshot in front of a plant.

Dan Wang, a research scientist in the ATAP Division’s Berkeley Accelerator Controls and Instrumentation (BACI) Program, applies machine learning to the precision control of complex laser and accelerator systems. She also leads the impedance modeling and reduction program in the ALS-U project.

 Brown-haired person wearing a dark shirt from the shoulders up.

Drawing on a background that includes magnetic heat pumps, Reed Teyber works on a variety of topics in ATAP Division’s Superconducting Magnet Program relevant to high energy physics, fusion energy, and charged-particle therapy.

 Two scientists wearing protective gear make adjustments to the new experimental area, iP2, at BELLA. Person wearing a charcoal striped suit with a blue collared shirt against a dark background.

A recently completed upgrade will expand the BELLA Center’s capabilities into new areas, including studies of particle acceleration, extremely hot plasmas, cancer treatment techniques, and materials for quantum science.

The new experimental area, known as Interaction Point 2 (iP2), will use the lab’s petawatt laser to provide intense pulses of protons and ions – building on the center’s expertise in accelerating electrons and lower-energy protons.

Berkeley Lab Research Scientist Marlene Turner shares how plasma wakefield acceleration can help us in our everyday lives.

 Scientist working on a cabling machine. A schematic cutaway view of the Advanced Light Source Two scientists perform work on the laser table where the petawatt laser is split into two beamlines. Reactors of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. DESI telescope at sunset. CPU desktop with the contacts facing up lying on the motherboard of the PC. the chip is highlighted with blue light. Technology background