On the 31st of March 2023, the External Supervisory Committee (ESC) do APPLAuSE visited the labs in Instituto Superior Técnico. During the visit Dr. Marta Fajardo explained the project and they assisted to some lab rotations.
Dr. Jean-Christophe Chanteloup and Dr. Milutin Kovacev (NanoxCAN WP1&2 leaders) attended the Ultrafast Optics conference 13th edition (UFOXIII) in Bariloche, Argentina, from March 26th to 31st 2023.
Dr. Milutin Kovacev presented a poster entitled “X-ray dose rate and spectral measurements from ultrafast laser-matter interaction” while Dr. Jean-Christophe gave a talk entitled “High average/peak powers Coherent Beam Combination digital lasers”.
Among the numerous interesting talks given, 3 raised interest with respect to the NanoXCAN scientific work:
– Amit Agrawal, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology gave an invited talk entitled: “Arbitrary Space-time Wave Packets Synthesis” where he addressed the ability to tailor an ultrafast pulse on demand. A task carrying far-reaching impacts on numerous fields, including NanoxCAN. He demonstrates that the arbitrary spatiotemporal synthesis of ultrafast optical transients by leveraging the multifunctional control of light at the nanoscale offered by metasurfaces (see image of the nanopillars bellow), enabling ready-synthesis of complex space-time wave packets over an ultrawide bandwidth. Contacts were made and discussions are ongoing for potential sample testing on XCAN laser.
– Christoph Heyl, from German Electron Synchrotron DESY, 2. Helmholtz-Institute Jena gave an invited talk entitled: “Opportunities for ultrafast lasers and nonlinear optics opened by multi-pass cells” where he explained that nonlinear multi-pass cells (MPCs) have brought along exciting possibilities to the field of ultrafast optics, ranging from great advances for post-compressed ultrafast lasers to novel frequency conversion schemes. He discussed the opportunities offered by MPCs and addressed the issue of Laser induced Damaged Threshold (LIDT)/high average power management/reflectivity of the mirrors used in such cavities, a key point for nanoXCAN.
– Simon Vallières, from University of Waterloo, Canada presented a method to generate MeV-ranged high dose-rate electron beams in ambient air through the tight focusing of a mJ-class femtosecond laser. They demonstrate that relativistic intensities can be obtained reached, a goal we share with nanoXCAN.
You can find more information in this link: (https://ultrafastoptics2023.org/)
On the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of February 2023 it occurred the “Jornadas da Engenharia Física”. The JEF are the Journeys of Physical Engineering, an annual event that not only allows to give physics engineering students knowledge of what options they have for their future and opportunities to contact companies, but also to promote Physics among the general public.
Dr.Marta Fajardo from the IST Physics Department participated.
NanoxCan partners and researchers met in Prague, in November 2022.
On January 24th 2023, high school students from Secondary School Dr. Pascoal José de Mello, visited the lab in IST (Instituto Superior Técnico). Dr. Marta Fajardo spoke to them about what it meant to be a physics engineer, about the Institution and the project. The students got to see the laboratory and learn about the importance of nuclear fusion research and what NanoxCan project could lead to, in the scientific field.
On the 18th of Novwember 2022, Dr. Hamed Merdji did a presentation at ATTO Fridays.
ATTO Fridays is a seminar series, where viewers from any point of the world can watch physicists to talk about a research that they working on. For his presentation, Dr. Hamed brought the topic of High Harmonic: from classical to quantum diffractive imaging.
French and Portuguese Scientists Awarded Prestigious Prix Tremplin Mariano Gago for Nanotechnology Research. Dr. Marta Fajardo and Dr. Hamed Merdji.
Paris, France – In a collaborative effort aimed at fostering research cooperation and promoting scientific excellence, the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Culture, the Camões Institute – Institute of Cooperation and Language, and the Office of Cultural Strategy, Planning, and Evaluation (GEPAC) teamed up with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of France (MESRI) and the French Academy of Sciences to award the esteemed Prix Tremplin Mariano Gago. The awards, totaling 84,000 euros, were recently presented to four scientific pairs in recognition of their groundbreaking work in the field of nanotechnologies.
One of the notable recipients is Professor Marta Fajardo, a distinguished member of the Department of Physics (DF) and a researcher at the Institute of Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion (IPFN), along with her counterpart Professor Hamed Merdji, for their remarkable NanoXIMAGES project. This project focused on developing a practical application in the realm of nanotechnologies, aiming to demonstrate the feasibility of reconstructing an X-ray image of an object using a process involving incoherent light. The potential applications of this pioneering technique are particularly relevant in the fields of medicine and biology.
Professor Fajardo’s involvement in the NanoXIMAGES project originated from her leadership of another research endeavor funded by the European Innovation Council, NanoXCAN. Building upon the foundation laid by NanoXCAN, NanoXIMAGES sought to explore the concept of incoherent image reconstruction through diffraction. By leveraging the physical phenomenon of wave widening when encountering an obstacle, the team aimed to establish a new paradigm for X-ray imaging that relied on absorption contrast and the wavelength of the X-rays.
The primary objective of awarding the Prix Tremplin Mariano Gago was to strengthen bilateral research cooperation between Franco-Portuguese teams and encourage the continuation and expansion of their collaboration. The selection process considered various criteria, including the quality of preliminary results, scientific excellence of the project, the expertise of the participating candidates and laboratories, the added value derived from bilateral collaboration, and prospects for future joint endeavors. An international jury composed of scientists from France and Portugal, coordinated by MESRI, the French Academy of Sciences, and the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, was responsible for selecting the winners.
The official award ceremony took place on June 21, 2022, at the esteemed Grand Hall of the French Academy of Sciences. This highly anticipated event provided a platform for these exceptional researchers to showcase their remarkable achievements and inspire future generations of scientists to pursue groundbreaking discoveries in the field of nanotechnologies.
NanoXCan kickoff meeting was held in sunny Lisbon on May 11th 2022.
We are ready to rock.
