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The most powerful laser in the US recently produced 2 quadrillion watts of power
(news.engin.umich.edu)
this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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Edit 2: Eheran pointed out I screwed up the math. Correct total energy output is 13μWh. A very, very, very small amount of energy.
(2x10^15^ W) * (25s/1x10^18^) * (1 h/ 3600 s) = 13μWh
Previous bad math:
spoiler
~~The key thing here is the burst lasted for "25 quintillionths of a second long". Meaning it had a total output energy of 180 W/h, or how much energy a standard US space heater (1.5KW) outputs if it was on for 7.2 minutes.~~
~~That is a pretty impressive amount of power coming in instantly to a small spot. Would leave basically zero time for it to dissipate into surrounding materials.~~
~~Edit: Fixed the math. (I hope)~~ ~~(2x10^15^ W) * (25/1x10^18^ s) * (3600 s / 1 h) = 180W/h~~
That's 25 attoseconds, no?... If so, that's impressive.
The power record holder right now is the Măgurele laser in Romania, at 10 PW, but it lasts a thousand times longer, at 25 femtoseconds I believe. I can't find clear info on pulse duration anywhere. They do intend to decrease pulse durations it seems.