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XL Semanal highlights the career of Carlos Hernández García

The magazine XL Semanal highlights the work and outstanding research career of Carlos Hernández García, a member of our research group at the University of Salamanca. In a recent article, the impact of his research in the field of attophysics—a discipline that allows the study of the smallest and fastest phenomena in the subatomic universe—is emphasized.
 

Hernández García, who has been awarded by the BBVA Foundation and the Spanish Royal Society of Physics, leads research that has enabled the generation of ultrafast laser pulses capable of freezing the movement of subatomic particles, such as electrons. This revolutionary technology opens new avenues for studying and controlling matter at the quantum level.

The article highlights not only his ability to unravel the mysteries of quantum physics but also the enormous potential his work holds for future applications in fields as diverse as electronics, energy, and medicine.

You can read the full article on the XL Semanal website and download it from this link.

From our research group, we celebrate the national recognition of these achievements and congratulate Carlos Hernández García for the acknowledgment of his dedication and efforts.

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adminXL Semanal highlights the career of Carlos Hernández García

PARTICIPATION OF RESEARCHERS FROM THE LASER AND PHOTONICS APPLICATIONS GROUP IN ICOAM2024

Researchers Carlos Hernández García and Rodrigo Martín-Hernández, members of the Laser and Photonics Applications Group and the ERC Attostructura project (851201), actively participated in the Seventh International Conference on Optical Angular Momentum. This prestigious conference took place from June 10 to 13, 2024, at Kruger National Park, South Africa.
 

The Seventh International Conference on Optical Angular Momentum (ICOAM 2024) is a prominent event in the field of optics and photonics, focusing on the study and applications of light’s angular momentum. This event gathers scientists and experts from around the world to discuss the latest advancements and share innovative research in areas such as particle manipulation, quantum optics, generation of angular momentum beams, and biomedical and communication applications.

  • Carlos Hernández García participated as an invited speaker with his work titled “Attosecond vortex pulse trains”.

The landscape of ultrafast structured light pulses has recently evolved thanks to the capability of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) to nonlinearly convert orbital angular momentum (OAM) from infrared to extreme-ultraviolet/soft X-rays. Up to now, HHG has been demonstrated to produce harmonic vortex pulses on the femtosecond scale through various studies, where higher-order harmonics exhibit distinct OAM content. This characteristic, a result of OAM conservation rules, has hindered the emission of vortex beams with attosecond pulse durations.

In this work, we demonstrate, both theoretically and experimentally, the generation of attosecond vortex pulse trains – a succession of light pulses each with a temporal duration of hundreds of attoseconds, and a similar helical wavefront. This achievement is realized by synthesizing a comb of high-order harmonics with identical OAM. To our knowledge, these are the first vortex pulses produced on the attosecond scale.

To achieve this, we drove HHG with an infrared bifurcated polarization tilt-angle grating, resulting from the non-collinear superposition of two counter-rotating circularly polarized beams with opposite OAM. The simultaneous conservation of linear momentum, spin angular momentum, and orbital angular momentum in the HHG process leads to two spatially-separated circularly polarized high-order harmonic beams with OAM independent of the order. Our work paves the way towards attosecond-resolved light-matter interactions at the natural timescale of electronic dynamics in atoms, molecules, or solids.

  • Rodrigo Martín-Hernández participated in the poster session with the work titled “How to generate spatiotemporal optical vortices in the extreme-ultraviolet/x-ray regime.”

The generation of spatiotemporal optical vortices (STOVs) in the near-infrared regime has been successfully studied in recent years, both theoretically and experimentally. However, their extension to higher-frequency regimes has not yet been demonstrated. Over the last decade, it has been shown that high-order harmonic generation (HHG) can successfully transfer longitudinal optical vortices from the near-infrared to the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray regimes. Following an immediate analogy, one might think that HHG driven by STOVs would result in high-frequency STOVs with high topological charge. However, this scenario offers much richer possibilities.

In this work, we explore the nonlinear conversion of STOVs from the near-infrared to EUV/X-rays using HHG. Depending on the driving beam configuration, we identify two scenarios that lead to strongly differentiated phenomena.

Firstly, if HHG is driven by a canonical, elliptical, single-charged STOV focused on a gas target, high-frequency harmonic STOVs with the same topological charge as the driving field are generated. Our theoretical calculations unequivocally demonstrate that this result depends heavily on the non-perturbative nature of the HHG process. Thus, these results not only provide harmonic combs of low-topological charge STOVs in the EUV/X-ray range but also open the door to investigating some of the most fundamental questions about the intrinsic non-perturbative nature of the HHG process.

Secondly, if the driving beam is designed to deliver a canonical (elliptical), single-charged STOV at the gas target, high-order harmonic STOVs with high topological charge are generated. We demonstrate that in this scenario, the resulting topological charge of the harmonic STOVs increases according to the harmonic order multiplied by the fundamental topological charge, following the same well-known conversion rule as in longitudinal optical vortices.

Carlos Hernández García and Rodrigo Martín-Hernández’s participation in ICOAM 2024 underscores the Laser and Photonics Applications Group’s commitment to cutting-edge research and international collaboration in the field of optics and photonics. Their work not only contributes to the advancement of scientific knowledge but also opens new opportunities for innovative technological applications.

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adminPARTICIPATION OF RESEARCHERS FROM THE LASER AND PHOTONICS APPLICATIONS GROUP IN ICOAM2024

The President of the Junta of Castilla y León meets with researchers from the European Research Council program.

On Monday, March 18th, the President of the Junta of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, held a meeting with seven out of the nine researchers from the region selected in the European Research Council (ERC) program, among whom is Carlos Hernández García, a member of the ALF Group – USAL and principal investigator of the Attostructura project.

The news has been widely disseminated by several media outlets, which have issued press releases regarding the matter.

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adminThe President of the Junta of Castilla y León meets with researchers from the European Research Council program.

Post-doc position on theory of structured attosecond pulses applied to ultrafast magnetism 

The University of Salamanca (Spain) invites application for a 2-year Postdoc position starting in September 2023. The position is part of the project ATTOSTRUCTURA, “Structured attosecond pulses for ultrafast nanoscience”, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 851201), supervised by Dr. Carlos Hernández-García, and with a duration of 5 years.

Application deadline: May 20th 2023

Project information

The postdoctoral researcher will enrol the project “Structured attosecond pulses for ultrafast nanoscience” at the Laser Applications and Photonics Research group (ALF-USAL) at University of Salamanca (https://laser.usal.es/alf/en/home/). ALF-USAL is an interdisciplinary Optics research group with expertise in both theory (strong-field physics, nonlinear optics, ultrafast phenomena, attosecond science) and experiments (ultrashort pulse characterization, pulse shaping, photonic crystals, ultrashort micro-machining). Some of the recent results have been published in high impact factor scientific journals:

 

Some of the recent results have been published in high impact factor scientific journals:

 

-“Generation of extreme-ultraviolet beams with time-varying orbital angular momentum”, L. Rego, K. M. Dorney, N. J. Brooks, Q. Nguyen, C-T. Liao, J. San Román, D. E. Couch, Allison Liu, E. Pisanty, M. Lewenstein, L. Plaja, H. C. Kapteyn, M. M. Murnane, C. Hernández-García, Science 364, eaaw9486 (2019). Highlighted in the media:

-“Controlling the polarization and vortex charge of attosecond high-harmonic beams via simultaneous spin-orbit momentum conservation”, K. M. Dorney, L. Rego, N. Brooks, J. San Román, C-T. Liao, J. L. Ellis, D. Zusin, C. Gentry, Q. Nguyen, J. M. Shaw, A. Picón, L. Plaja, H. C. Kapteyn, M. M. Murnane, C. Hernández-García, Nature Photonics 13, 123–130 (2019).

 

-“Extreme-Ultraviolet Vector-Vortex Beams from High Harmonic Generation“, Alba de las Heras,  Alok P. Pandey, Julio San Román, Javier Serrano, Elsa Baynard, Guillaume Dovillaire, Moana Pittman, Charles Durfee, Luis Plaja, Sophie Kazamias, Olivier Guilbaud, Carlos Hernández-García, Optica 9, 71-79 (2022).

 

-“Necklace-structured high harmonic generation for low-divergence, soft X-ray harmonic combs with tunable line spacing”, Laura Rego, Nathan J. Brooks, Quynh L. D. Nguyen, Julio San Román, Iona Binnie, Luis Plaja, Henry C. Kapteyn, Margaret M. Murnane, Carlos Hernández-García, Science Advances 8eabj7380 (2022).

Job profile

The candidate will explore the application of ultrashort structured pulses in ultrafast magnetism, an emerging field that is opening exciting scenarios in laser-matter interaction at the most fundamental level, merging the fields of Optics and Magnetism. The candidate will count not only with the collaboration of the theory research team at ALF-USAL (Dr. Luis Plaja, Dr. Julio San Román, Dr. Enrique Conejero and Dr. Carlos Hernández-García), but also with the collaboration of the research group on simulation of magnetic nanostructures SINAMAG at USAL, in particular with Prof. Luis López-Díaz and Dr. Rocío Yanes.

Successful candidates will have the possibility to consolidate their own independent research lines and to promote collaborative research among the following research lines:

  • Development of theoretical simulations of strong-field laser-matter interactions.
  • Development of theoretical models to describe the interaction of ultrafast structured laser pulses with gases and solids.
  • Implementation of high-performance computing simulations of strong-field laser-matter interaction.
  • Theoretical study of the ultrafast generation of magnetic textures (such as skyrmionic structures or vortices) using structured laser pulses.
Job Functions
  • To develop and implement theoretical models of laser-matter interaction along the described research lines.
  • To conduct independent research as well as in collaboration with other members of the group.
  • Co-advise undergraduate and Master students at University of Salamanca.
Candidate Requirements

 

  • Ph.D. in Physics, Chemistry or related Engineering degree, at the date of recruitment, with experience in theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Photonics, Magnetism and/or Condensed matter physics.
  • Advanced skills in developing and implementing theoretical simulations of strong field laser-matter interaction, ultrafast magnetism and/or condensed matter physics.
  •  Demonstrable team working skills.
  • Advanced level of English.
  • Candidates should be able to demonstrate a promising track record of achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage. CVs will be evaluated taking into account the overall track record of the researcher in relation to their level of experience.
Contract conditions
  • Dynamic and international working environment.
  • Training and access to a wide range of scientific facilities.
  • Soft skills training.
  • Employment conditions:
      • Two-years full-time employment contract.
      • Gross salary of 2.750 €/month.
      • Starting date: September 2023.
  • Research Project: ATTOSTRUCTURA, “Structured attosecond pulses for ultrafast nanoscience”, funded by the European Research Council (ERC)
  • Workplace: Laser Applications and Photonics Research group (ALF-USAL) at University of Salamanca (https://laser.usal.es/alf/en/home/), Spain.

Interested candidates should send a CV (maximum 4 pages), a personal statement with interests and reasons for applying, and two recommendation letters to Dr. Carlos Hernández-García at alf@usal.es.

For further information and inquiries see Euraxess web page, or contact Dr. Carlos Hernández-García at alf@usal.es.

SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process is governed by the principles of publicity, equality, merit, and ability, constituting the effect one selecting body composed of representatives of the group of research of USAL.

The selection process will consist of two phases:

  1. Analysis phase and curricular value of all nominations received, classified on the basis of better adaptation of the Curriculum vitae to the profile established and compliance with the requirements.
  2. Personal interview: the three candidates with the highest scores in the Phase 1 will be selected for a personal interview.

SELECTION COMMISSION

The selection commission will be made up of Dr. Carlos Hernández-García, and two members of the research team Laser Applications and Photonics Research group (ALF-USAL) at Universidad de Salamanca.

More information about the project, the position and the application process can be found Euraxess web page. 

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adminPost-doc position on theory of structured attosecond pulses applied to ultrafast magnetism 

Castilla y León Televisión echoes the meeting of the expert committee of the ATTOSTRUCTURA project

The television channel Castilla y León Television publishes on its website the news about the meeting of the expert council of the ATTOSTRUCTURA project.

You can read the press release and watch the video on their website.

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adminCastilla y León Televisión echoes the meeting of the expert committee of the ATTOSTRUCTURA project

Meeting in Salamanca of the Scientific Advisory Committee of ATTOSTRUCTURA project

Next August will be thirty months since the ATTOSTRUCTURA project began, which means that half of its duration has already elapsed.

For this reason, the first meeting of the project’s scientific advisory committee has been held. The committee, made up of external researchers who are experts in the different fields of the project, has the objective of evaluating the development of the project, the results obtained to date and, if necessary, proposing changes or modifications in the lines of research. In this way, it is intended to ensure that the project achieves the best possible results while maintaining the highest level of excellence.

The members of the scientific advisory committee are:

  • Prof. Jon Marangos (chairman) –  Imperial College (London, UK)
  • Dra. Alicia Palacios – Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
  • Prof. Misha Ivanov – Instituto Max Born de Óptica No Lineal y Espectroscopía de Pulso Corto en la Asociación de Investigación de Berlín (Berlin, Germany)
  • Catedrático Jamal Berakdar – Instituto de Física, Universidad Martin-Luther (Halle – Wittenberg, Germany)

The meeting, which took place on Friday, July 22, in the Board Room of the Faculty of Sciences, began with an open-door session in which the status of the project and the main results obtained to date were presented. The videos of that session will be available on the project website.

On the occasion of the meeting, Carlos Hernández García (principal investigator of the project) speaks in this video recorded by the audiovisual services of the University of Salamanca, about the project, its objectives and the results obtained.

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adminMeeting in Salamanca of the Scientific Advisory Committee of ATTOSTRUCTURA project

PhD Student Position on Artificial Intelligence Applied to the Physics of Attosecond Laser Pulses

The University of Salamanca (Spain) invites application for a 3-year PhD Student position to obtain a PhD degree in Physics, starting in September 2022. The position is part of the project ATTOSTRUCTURA, “Structured attosecond pulses for ultrafast nanoscience”, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 851201), supervised by Dr. Carlos Hernández-García, and with a duration of 5 years.

Application deadline: May 2nd 2022

Project information

The PhD candidate will enroll the project “Structured attosecond pulses for ultrafast nanoscience” at the Laser Applications and Photonics Research group (ALF-USAL) at University of Salamanca (https://laser.usal.es/alf/en/home/). The candidate will find a dynamic and international working environment, and will enrol in the theoretical group. ALF-USAL is an interdisciplinary Optics research group with expertise in both theory (strong-field physics, nonlinear optics, ultrafast phenomena, attosecond science) and experiments (ultrashort pulse characterization, pulse shaping, photonic crystals, ultrashort micro-machining). The candidate will explore the generation and ultrashort structured pulses and their application in ultrafast magnetism, an emerging field that is opening exciting scenarios in laser-matter interaction at the most fundamental level, merging the fields of Optics and Magnetism.

 

Some of the recent results have been published in high impact factor scientific journals:

 

-“Generation of extreme-ultraviolet beams with time-varying orbital angular momentum”, L. Rego, K. M. Dorney, N. J. Brooks, Q. Nguyen, C-T. Liao, J. San Román, D. E. Couch, Allison Liu, E. Pisanty, M. Lewenstein, L. Plaja, H. C. Kapteyn, M. M. Murnane, C. Hernández-García, Science 364, eaaw9486 (2019). Highlighted in the media:

-“Controlling the polarization and vortex charge of attosecond high-harmonic beams via simultaneous spin-orbit momentum conservation”, K. M. Dorney, L. Rego, N. Brooks, J. San Román, C-T. Liao, J. L. Ellis, D. Zusin, C. Gentry, Q. Nguyen, J. M. Shaw, A. Picón, L. Plaja, H. C. Kapteyn, M. M. Murnane, C. Hernández-García, Nature Photonics 13, 123–130 (2019).

 

-“Extreme-Ultraviolet Vector-Vortex Beams from High Harmonic Generation“, Alba de las Heras,  Alok P. Pandey, Julio San Román, Javier Serrano, Elsa Baynard, Guillaume Dovillaire, Moana Pittman, Charles Durfee, Luis Plaja, Sophie Kazamias, Olivier Guilbaud, Carlos Hernández-García, Optica 9, 71-79 (2022).

 

-“Necklace-structured high harmonic generation for low-divergence, soft X-ray harmonic combs with tunable line spacing”, Laura Rego, Nathan J. Brooks, Quynh L. D. Nguyen, Julio San Román, Iona Binnie, Luis Plaja, Henry C. Kapteyn, Margaret M. Murnane, Carlos Hernández-García, Science Advances 8eabj7380 (2022).

Job profile

The candidate will explore the application of Artificial Intelligence to the Physics behind the generation of ultrashort structured pulses, an emerging field that is opening exciting scenarios in laser-matter interaction at the most fundamental level, merging the fields of Optics and Computing Sciences. The candidate will be advised thus by two experts in each of those fields:

 

  • Dr. Javier Serrano (expert in high performance computing, artificial intelligence)
  • Dr. Carlos Hernández-García (expert in ultrashort structured laser pulses and nonlinear optics)
Job Functions
  • Development and implementation of theoretical methods to describe the interaction of femtosecond and attosecond structured laser pulses with atomic and solid systems.
  • Usage of Artificial Intelligence libraries like Keras / Tensorflow for the design, training and application of neural networks to the generation of ultrashort structured pulses.
  • Development and improvement of software using C/C++ or Fortran to simulate high harmonic generation, taking advantage of HPC resources and technologies like OpenMP, MPI and CUDA.
  • Application of the developed codes to explore the limits of sub-attosecond pulse generation, with possibilities to interact with experimental collaborators.
Candidate Requirements
  • University degree in Physics or Computing Sciences.
  • Master program, Physics-related or Computing Sciences-related.
  • Programming skills in Python, C/C++ and/or Fortran.
  • Advanced level of English: higher than B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages or equivalent.
  • Candidates should be able to demonstrate a promising track record of achievements appropriate to their career stage.
Contract conditions
  • Type of contract:
    • PhD contract.
    • Limited to 3,5 years, until the end of the project. Contract to be renewed annually.
    • Full-time employee (37,5 hours a week)
  • Economic compensation:
    • Gross salary of:
      • 1.300 €/month (14 salaries), during the first and second years.
      • 1.384 €/month (14 salaries), during the third year.
    • Research Project:
      • ATTOSTRUCTURA, “Structured attosecond pulses for ultrafast nanoscience”, funded by the European Research Council (ERC)
    • Workplace:
    • Estimated starting date: September 2022.

Interested candidates should send a CV (maximum 3 pages), a complete list of grades during his/herdegree and Master program, a personal statement with interests and reasons for applying, and two recommendation letters to Dr. Carlos Hernández-García at alf@usal.es.

For further information and inquiries see Euraxess web page, or contact Dr. Carlos Hernández-García at alf@usal.es.

SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process is governed by the principles of publicity, equality, merit, and ability, constituting the effect one selecting body composed of representatives of the group of research of USAL.

The selection process will consist of two phases:

  1. Analysis phase and curricular value of all nominations received, classified on the basis of better adaptation of the Curriculum vitae to the profile established and compliance with the requirements.
  2. Personal interview: the three candidates with the highest scores in the Phase 1 will be selected for a personal interview.

SELECTION COMMISSION

The selection commission will be made up of the two co-advisors, Dr. Javier Serrano and Dr. Carlos Hernández-García, and one member of the research team Laser Applications and Photonics Research group (ALF-USAL) at Universidad de Salamanca.

More information about the project, the position and the application process can be found Euraxess web page. 

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Innovadores supplement of El Mundo echoes the new research into ultraviolet structured light

The newspaper El Mundo in its supplement Innovadores Castilla y León publishes a report on the new investigation being carried out by the ALF – USAL Group.

This research demonstrates the production of a type of laser beam in the extreme ultraviolet with a special design in phase and polarization.

In this type of beam, the polarization distribution is linked to the phase structure. These light forms are called vector vortices, because the structure is analogous to that of a whirlpool with different directions of vibration. It is, therefore, a light beam that combines the properties of the orbital angular momentum of light associated with the optical vortices with those of the spin angular momentum of the light particles, which defines the polarization.

The study from which the results presented in the publication have been obtained is the result of the collaboration between the ALF – USAL Group with the Paris-Saclay University and the Colorado School of Mines and is part of the European project ERC ATTOSTRUCTURA (851201)

You can read the article below and consult the review published on the article on our website.

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adminInnovadores supplement of El Mundo echoes the new research into ultraviolet structured light

Attostructura Seminar – Structuring ultrafast laser light through highly nonlinear physics

On February 2nd, Carlos Hernández García, Ramón y Cajal researcher, member of the Laser and Photonic Applications research group and principal investigator of the Attostructura project (ERC 851201) gave the seminar “Structuring ultrafast laser light through highly nonlinear physics” within the cycle of seminars of the Rocasolano Institute of the CSIC.

The degree of control we have achieved over the manipulation of light is truly amazing. Initiated by our Greek ancestors using mirrors to guide light, we live in a world where the most advanced laser technology allows us to create and sculpt light beams with great precision. In particular, nowadays we can create ultrashort attosecond pulses (with durations of trillionths of a second), of very high frequencies (up to the soft X-rays), and with increasingly complex spatial structures thanks to our ability to harness their angular momentum. In this talk we will review our recent work in the generation of structured ultrashort laser pulses. Thanks to the highly nonlinear process of high harmonic generation, we can tailor the spin and orbital angular momentum properties of extreme ultraviolet/soft x-ray laser pulses directly at their generation. By properly controlling the process of high harmonic generation, from the driving laser beam to the target (gas or solid), different families of structured ultrashort laser beams can be created: self-torqued beams, vector-vortex beams, tunable high-frequency combs, or hexagonal harmonic beams. These new optical tools allow us to fantasize of new laser-matter interaction processes at the nanoscale, whose physical laws are yet to be discovered. For example, structured laser pulses offer an appealing alternative to study sub-femtosecond magnetization dynamics, where a complete understanding of the electronic and spin interactions remains unexplored

You can see the full video of the seminar on this page or on Youtube channel of the Rocasolano Institute.

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adminAttostructura Seminar – Structuring ultrafast laser light through highly nonlinear physics

The University of Salamanca leads a pioneering international research project on ultraviolet structured light

Several media outlets have echoed the publication of a new research article by the ALF – USAL Group in the prestigious Optica magazine. It demonstrates the production of a type of laser beam in the extreme ultraviolet with a special design in phase and polarization.

In this type of beam, the polarization distribution is linked to the phase structure. These light forms are called vector vortices, because the structure is analogous to that of a whirlpool with different directions of vibration. It is, therefore, a light beam that combines the properties of the orbital angular momentum of light associated with the optical vortices with those of the spin angular momentum of the light particles, which defines the polarization.

The authors explain that “the fundamental idea is to control the properties of ultraviolet light by acting on the initial infrared light, thanks to the fact that all the information is encoded in the physical laws of conservation.” In fact, in this study a new conserved quantity is also discovered in the harmonic generation process, the Pancharatnam topological charge, which includes in its definition both the spin and the orbital angular momentum of the light beam.

The study from which the results presented in the publication have been obtained is the result of the collaboration between the ALF – USAL Group with the Paris-Saclay University and the Colorado School of Mines and is part of the European project ERC ATTOSTRUCTURA (851201)

Full report can be read at Salamanca24horas or Divulgación Científica de la USAL web page.  

Article review published on the article can be consulted on our website.

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adminThe University of Salamanca leads a pioneering international research project on ultraviolet structured light