The High Power Laser System (HPLS) represents one of the two unique tools at the core of the ELI-NP facility. The laser system was built and installed by Thales. It consists of two high-power laser arms with three nominal peak powers of 100 TW, 1 PW, and 10 PW for each arm, resulting in six outputs. For achieving the high powers, an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) front end was implemented, followed by the dual-arm chirped-pulse power amplifiers (CPA) based on state-of-the-art Ti: Sapphire crystals and dedicated pulse compressors for each of the six outputs.

ELI-NP will also host a highly versatile gamma beam system (VEGA) able to provide gamma-ray beams with continuously tunable energy in the range from 1 MeV to 19.5 MeV.  The beams will be quasi-monochromatic by having a relative energy bandwidth better than 0.5%, high intensity with a spectral density higher than 0.5 x 104 photons/eV/s and high degree of linear polarization at more than 95%. With these parameters, the VEGA System will be the most advanced gamma-ray source in the world having about one order of magnitude higher gamma-ray flux and at least a factor of two smaller relative bandwidth than the current state-of-the-art. Production of quasi-monochromatic gamma beams is based on the Inverse Compton Scattering (ICS) process of laser light pulses off relativistic electron bunches. The VEGA System is based on the use of a storage ring and a high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity to resonantly build-up pulsed laser power. The Optical Cavity provides gains of 5,000-10,000 in laser power, which reduces the complexity of the interaction laser drive system.

ELI-NP is a User Facility where researchers from around the world can propose experiments to be conducted in fundamental physics, new nuclear physics and astrophysics, applications in nuclear materials, radioactive waste management, material science and life sciences and even commercial endeavors.