The 20th international symposium on high power laser system and applications (HPLSA2014) was held from August 25 to 29 in Chengdu China. The symposium was organized by the Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on High Energy Lasers of China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) and co-organized by the Research Center of Laser Fusion of CAEP, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Institute of Optics and Electronics of CAS, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics of CAS, Tsinghua University and Sichuan University. The contents of the symposium include solid state laser sources and system engineering, high power diode laser, ultra-short pulsed laser system, gas and chemical lasers, resonators and laser beam control and applications. Over 500 participants from home and abroad, which is the largest number of participants during the history of the symposium, attended the symposium and presented the research work on high power lasers from the academia and industry. The opening ceremony was hosted by the famous scholar of high power lasers Prof. Robert Walter (USA), and the director of Key Laboratory of Chemical Lasers (KLCL) Prof. Yu-Qi Jin was invited by the committee to present a keynote lecture titled “Review of COIL Activities in Dalian”.
Scholars and experts from USA, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Japan, Bulgaria, Australia, Turkey, etc. involved in this field shared and discussed their academic improvement by presenting 76 lectures focused on the innovative developments in high power lasers technology and applications. In addition, the industrial performance, processes and insights from the companies associated with the lasers were also highlighted.
HPLSA is the top-class symposium in the area of high power laser, which was held every 2 years since 1976. It is noticeable that the symposium was all held in the European counties during the past, and Chengdu China is its first attempt to hold outside of Europe. As the co-organizer, DICP demonstrated an impressive work in lecture presentation, academic communication as well as the symposium organization. It is exhibited that HPLSA2014 provided such a valuable opportunity to communicate and share not only the academic results but also innovative techniques of academia and industry between China and international regions in the area of high power lasers. (Text by Yan-Hua Ma /Photo by HPLSA2014)