Optica High-Brightness Sources and Light-Driven Interactions Congress

Lighting the Way: Advances at ELI and Beyond

This talk will present recent advancements at the ELI Facilities since the beginning of the ELI User Programme in 2022. This includes primary laser systems and secondary sources serving various research fields, encompassing not only a broad range of physics, but also chemistry, biology and materials science. We will discuss the performance of this new generation of sources at ELI’s facilities, how they are providing unprecedented tools to tackle these challenges and new, disruptive technologies. Furthermore, the talk will venture into the future, outlining the visionary paths that laser and light source technology are set to embark upon. This includes an overview of the expected technical achievements in the next 24 months, as informed by contributions from various ELI facilities and partner facilities. These advances promise to further elevate our collective capability to probe the mysteries of the universe, from the smallest particles to the grandest cosmic phenomena.

About the Speaker

Dr. Allen Weeks has been the Director General of the ELI Delivery Consortium since July 2018. He took over from Carlo Rizzuto, who had held the position since December 2015. Previously, Allen was the Associate Director for Members and Stakeholders Relations. In his new role, he is responsible for managing the transition from ELI DC to ELI ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium), established in 2019.

Allen Weeks has been involved in research facilities since 2005 when he worked on the construction project of the Free-Electron Laser 'FERMI' at Elettra in Trieste, Italy. He was the Director of Business Development at Instrumentation Technologies, a leading company that makes instrumentation for the world's most advanced accelerators. From 2012 to 2017, he served as the Head of Communications, External Relations, and In-Kind at Lund's European Spallation Source (ESS). He joined ELI in November 2017 to use his experience in starting a leading European research infrastructure and ERIC membership negotiations.

The Extreme Light Infrastructure is the world's largest and most advanced high-power laser infrastructure and a global technology and innovation leader in high-power, high-intensity and short-pulsed laser systems.

The international laser user facility ELI accommodates some of the most intense lasers in the world. ELI’s lasers produce ultra-short pulses of high energy photons, electrons, protons, neutrons, muons and neutrinos in the (sub-) attosecond regimes on demand.

Advancement of High Intensity Laser Driven Particle Accelerators to Application Readiness

Improved control of high intensity laser beam parameters on target recently enabled
proton energies beyond 100 MeV, dose-controlled in-vivo radiobiology experiments and
seeded FEL demonstration, which will be discussed jointly with the underlying physics.

About the Speaker

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schramm is director of the Institute of Radiation Physics at the Helmholtz-Center Dresden-Rossendorf where he leads the ELBE center for high power radiation sources, a center developing and operating Petawatt laser infrastructure dedicated to advanced accelerator research next to a superconducting electron accelerator.

For about 25 years his scientific focus lies on the acceleration of electrons and protons through relativistic laser plasma interactions and in particular with respect to applications in radiobiology and secondary light sources. Only recently the dose controlled irradiation of tumors in mice with laser accelerated proton pulses confirmed the application readiness of plasma accelerators, provided that focus quality on target is ensured by the characterization of spatio-temporal and pulse contrast conditions.

Chip-Based Comb Spectroscopy

Recent advances in integrated photonics will allow for a new class of spectroscopic sources, such as optical frequency combs, which will enable high-precision spectroscopic instruments in highly robust, compact and portable platforms. 

About the Speaker

Gaeta received his doctorate in Optics from the University of Rochester. Gaeta joined Columbia University as the David M. Rickey Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science in 2015. Prior to that, Gaeta was the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering at Cornell University and was Chair of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics from 2011–2014.  He has published more than 300 journal articles in quantum and nonlinear photonics. He served as the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Optica from 2014–2020 and Chair of the Optica Publications Council in 2022. He co-founded Xscape Photonics, Inc. and served as the CEO from 2021–2023.  He is a Fellow of Optica, APS and IEEE, and a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher, and was awarded the 2019 Charles H. Townes Medal from Optica.

Advancing Metrology for Microelectronics: CHIPS Metrology Program

Under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, NIST is expanding its support of the microelectronics technology and manufacturing ecosystem by developing, advancing and deploying measurement technologies that are accurate, precise and fit-for-purpose.

About the Speaker

Dr. Marla Dowell is the Director of the CHIPS Metrology Program and NIST Boulder Laboratory.  She began her NIST career as a researcher in the field of optical metrology for photolithography. Dowell has represented NIST on national and international committees on research innovation, photonics and communications. Dowell’s abilities to foster collaborations with both private and public sector partners and to lead high performing research organizations have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Allen V. Astin Award, the Arthur S. Flemming Award from George Washington University and the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award. Dowell is a member of the Federal Innovation Council and serves on the board of the Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council.