Tucked away in a lab near Paris, scientists at the Apollon facility have quietly secured a world record: the most powerful laser ever fired on Earth. Operating at a staggering 10 petawatts, Apollon has set a benchmark that global competitors, including the United States, are scrambling to catch up with.
Backed by the École Polytechnique, the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and aerospace giant Thales, the laser emits bursts of energy so intense they mimic the physical conditions thought to exist moments after the Big Bang. That’s not metaphor — this machine is actively being used to recreate early-universe environments, probe the quantum vacuum, and accelerate particles with a level of control once thought impossible.
Despite its incredible firepower, Apollon is more than a research stunt. It’s a stable, operational system integrated into European scientific infrastructure. Teams from across the continent are already using it to study gamma-ray bursts, dense plasma structures, and extreme light-matter interactions, making it a practical — and strategic — asset.
A Flashy American Rival Hits the Headlines — but Not the Benchmark
Earlier this year, the U.S.-based SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory generated global buzz with news that it had created a 1-petawatt laser beam using a novel compression method. The pulse, while lasting only a few quadrillionths of a second, briefly achieved an energy output equivalent to one million nuclear power plants — a claim first reported by Popular Mechanics.
Led by physicist Claudio Emma, the SLAC team employed what they call the “flipper technique”, a highly complex choreography of radio-frequency waves, magnetic chicanes and undulator magnets. In essence, electrons are squeezed, flipped, wiggled, and accelerated in a way that amplifies their energy before firing them through a sculpted light field. The result? A beam of light so intense it could, in theory, pull particles out of empty space.
The achievement, detailed in Physical Review Letters, has raised eyebrows in the high-energy physics community. But it comes with caveats. The SLAC system is not yet stable or reproducible, and it’s far from ready for continuous research applications. As it stands, the Apollon laser remains comfortably in the lead — not only in terms of raw power, but in reliability.
When Lasers Become More Than Lab Tools
As nations pour billions into advanced photonics, lasers like Apollon and SLAC’s prototype are quickly becoming symbols of scientific sovereignty. Unlike traditional supercolliders, high-powered lasers are compact enough to be housed in labs — but powerful enough to simulate nuclear detonations, test fusion reactions, and push beyond the Standard Model of physics.
“Whoever controls ultra-intense light, controls the frontier of experimental physics,” said Dr Émilie Laurent, a quantum optics researcher unaffiliated with either project. “It’s not just about publishing papers anymore — it’s about defining your country’s place in the future of science.”
The European Commission, aware of the stakes, has funnelled support into a pan-continental network that includes Apollon and Romania’s ELI-NP facility. Meanwhile, China and South Korea have launched their own petawatt-class initiatives, hoping to stake their claims in what some experts are calling a laser arms race.
What Happens When Lasers Get This Powerful?
Petawatt lasers push physics to a tipping point. At these intensities, light doesn’t just illuminate — it behaves like a hammer. It can shatter atoms, accelerate electrons to near-light speeds, and potentially bring the quantum vacuum — that strange sea of invisible energy — into experimental reach.
The implications stretch beyond pure science. In energy research, such lasers could help simulate and refine fusion processes, as explained in SLAC’s energy programs. In medicine, attosecond lasers are already being explored for ultrafast imaging and radiation therapy. And in national security, they could simulate high-energy impacts or test nuclear weapons without ever striking a match.
For now, France’s Apollon laser sits alone at the top. But with American scientists promising mega-amp beams, and Asia’s quiet surge in photonics, the title of “most powerful light in the world” may not stay in one place for long.