Status of PHELIX Laser Program

S. Borneis, H. Balonier, R. Bock, E. Brambrink , H. Brand, C. Bruske, J. Caird, R. Fuchs, E. W. Gaul, W. Geithner, S. Götte, C. Häfner, T. Hahn, W. Heddrich, H. M. Heuck, D.H.H. Hoffmann, D. Javorkova, H. J. Kluge, Th. Kühl, S. Kunzer, R. Lotz, T. Merz, P. Neumayer, D. Reemts, M. Roth, S. Samek, G. Schaumann, F. Schrader, W. Seelig, C. Spielmann, R. Stenner A. Tauschwitz, R. Thiel, D. Ursescu, P. Wiewior, U. Wittrock GSI Darmstadt, Germany; Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA; Fachhochschule Darmstadt, Germany; Fachhochschule Münster, Germany; Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland; Julius Maximilian Universität Würzburg, Germany One of the most important milestones of the PHELIX laser program was reached in January 2003, when the required Nova laser components from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) arrived at GSI. The basis for the transfer was the agreement between the Department of Energy of the United States of America (DOE) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany (BMBF) to cooperate in energy research, science and technology and development. Within the agreement which was signed on February 20, 1998 the basic science of dense plasma physics using intense ion and laser beams will be explored.