Category: Attostructura_En

Attostructura_En

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.

Castilla y Leon Television, “Nueve investigadores reciben casi 17 millones de euros de las becas ERC para investigar en Castilla y León” (18/03/24)
Comunicación Junta Castilla y León, MAÑUECO DESTACA QUE EL LIDERAZGO DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN EN ATRACCIÓN DE TALENTO INVESTIGADOR DE EXCELENCIA CONTRIBUIRÁ A GENERAR MÁS ACTIVIDAD Y EMPLEO (18/03/24)
Diario de León, Mañueco apuesta por un cambio económico de la mano de la ciencia (18/03/24)
SoriaNoticias, Mañueco destaca que el liderazgo de Castilla y León en atracción de talento investigador de excelencia contribuirá a generar más actividad y empleo (18/03/24)
ABC, La «élite» de la investigación destaca la «calidad científica» y el talento de Castilla y León (18/03/24)

20 March, 2024 admin Attostructura_En, Press release No comments

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 20^th 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:

Physicists discover croissant-shaped twists of light. National Geographic (USA)
Twisted light gains angular momentum through ‘self-torque’. PhysicsWorld (UK)
Descubierta una nueva propiedad de la luz. El País (Spain)
Físicos españoles descubren una nueva propiedad de la luz. El Mundo (Spain)

-“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 8, eabj7380 (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:

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.
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.

20 April, 2023 admin Attostructura_En, Job position, Post_Eng No comments

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.

27 July, 2022 admin Attostructura_En, Press release, Scientific outreach No comments

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.

#InvestigadoresDeLaUSAL | Carlos Hernández, investigador del GIR Aplicaciones de los Láseres y Fotónica de la USAL (@OpticaExtrema), explica en qué consiste el proyecto europeo ATTOSTRUCTURA, financiado por el @ERC_Research. pic.twitter.com/pKgAX1kF6E

— Universidad de Salamanca (@usal) July 25, 2022

25 July, 2022 admin ALF results, Attostructura_En, Scientific outreach No comments

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:

Physicists discover croissant-shaped twists of light. National Geographic (USA)
Twisted light gains angular momentum through ‘self-torque’. PhysicsWorld (UK)
Descubierta una nueva propiedad de la luz. El País (Spain)
Físicos españoles descubren una nueva propiedad de la luz. El Mundo (Spain)

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:
  - Laser Applications and Photonics Research group (ALF-USAL) at University of Salamanca (https://laser.usal.es/alf/en/home/), Spain.
- 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 will consist of two phases:

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.
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.

17 February, 2022 admin Attostructura_En, Job position, Post_Eng No comments

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.

9 February, 2022 admin Attostructura_En, Press release No comments

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.

3 February, 2022 admin Attostructura_En, Seminar, Video No comments

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.

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.

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.

17 January, 2022 admin Attostructura_En, Press release No comments

Tailoring complex structures in high-frequency light

The prestigious journal Optica has just published a new article demonstrating the generation of high-frequency light with multiple vibration directions and a spiral phase structure. The research is the result of an international theoretical-experimental collaboration between the Laser and Photonics Applications Group of the University of Salamanca, the University of Paris-Saclay and the Colorado School of Mines. This work was developed within the European project ERC ATTOSTRUCTURA.

One of the great advantages of laser light is that we can shape its spatial properties, with the aim of exploring new scenarios in light-matter interaction and optimizing some applications such as imaging techniques or optical communications.

In this work we organize the distribution of the phase (the instantaneous oscillation position) in the form of a helix, which is the characteristic of optical vortices or “tornadoes of light”. In addition, we configure different polarizations (oscillation directions) in a single laser beam. Forms of light that combine both properties are called vector-vortex beams.

In the high-frequency regime, it is more challenging to structure laser light, since most conventional devices are not efficient for ultraviolet radiation, X-rays or gamma rays. However, we can circumvent this problem thanks to the generation of high-order harmonics. This nonlinear optics process, in which a high-intensity visible or infrared laser interacts with the atoms of a gas, allows us to up-convert the properties into the extreme ultraviolet or X-rays.

Our work demonstrates that we can generate vector-vortex beams in the extreme ultraviolet thanks to the physical conservation laws in high-order harmonic generation. Our theoretical proposal of a new conserved quantity, the Pancharatnam topological charge, in high harmonic generation has been confirmed experimentally in the laboratory of Paris-Saclay.

More information at:

Heras, A. de las, Pandey, A. K., Román, J. S., Serrano, J., Baynard, E., Dovillaire, G., Pittman, M., Durfee, C. G., Plaja, L., Kazamias, S., Guilbaud, O., & Hernández-García, C. (2022). Extreme-ultraviolet vector-vortex beams from high harmonic generation. Optica, 9(1), 71-79. https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.442304

Download the full paper at Gredos @Universidad de Salamanca: http://hdl.handle.net/10366/146004

17 January, 2022 admin Attostructura_En, Review No comments

OP Session – Deep Learning and harmonic generation

Javier Serrano, member of the Laser and Photonics Applications group and researcher in the ATTOSTRUCTURA project (ERC 851201), will give the seminar entitled “Deep Learning and harmonic generation” on December 17 at 10:00.

The seminar will take place in Room III of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Salamanca.

For those who cannot attend, the entire seminar will be uploaded to this website and to the YouTube channel of the ALF-USAL group.

10 December, 2021 admin Attostructura_En, OP Session, Video No comments