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Marina Fernández Galán 2nd Prize of the XX ‘Arquímedes’ University Contest for Introduction to Scientific Research

On October 20 at the Ministry of Universities in Madrid, student Marina Fernández Galán was awarded the 2nd Prize of the XX ‘Arquímedes’ University Contest for Introduction to Scientific Research.

The prize was awarded by the Ministry of Universities and the CSIC, for his work entitled “Extreme self-compression of infrared laser pulses in hollow fibers with decreasing pressure gradients” developed from his final degree project under the direction of Enrique Conejero. and Julio San Román.

The complete information is available on the website of the Press Room service of the University of Salamanca and in various media outlets that have also echoed the news.

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adminMarina Fernández Galán 2nd Prize of the XX ‘Arquímedes’ University Contest for Introduction to Scientific Research

Creation of the Unit of Excellence LUMES

Last June, the Unit of Excellence in Structured Light and Matter (LUMES) was created.

The creation of the Unit of Excellence in Structured Light and Matter represents a step forward in the consolidation of the University of Salamanca as an international reference in the understanding and application of the interactions between light and matter on the ultrafast and nanometric scale. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and the training of young researchers, this unit will position itself as an international leader in the development of technologies applying structured laser light to the study of new materials. The scientific and technological advances obtained are expected to boost innovation in fields such as photonics, optoelectronics, nanotechnology and quantum optics, areas with a transversal impact on multiple disciplines of science.

The LUMES Unit of Excellence will address various cutting-edge topics in the fields of ultrafast and nonlinear optics and materials science, including the development of spatiotemporally structured ultrafast lasers in a wide spectral range (from THz to X-rays); the study of the electronic, optical and magnetic properties of 2D materials at the quantum level and their associated van der Waals heterostructures; the interaction of these materials with ultrafast structured light; the processing of materials using ultra-intense lasers; and the study of ultrafast dynamics in magnetic materials excited with structured laser pulses, among others.

The LUMES Unit of Excellence is made up of 8 guarantor researchers and a total of 32 doctoral researchers, affiliated with the Department of Applied Physics of the USAL, the Center for Pulsed Lasers, and the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the USAL. The unit will be directed by Carlos Hernández García.

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adminCreation of the Unit of Excellence LUMES

New research project: SpecX

The new research project, SpecX (Schemes for the generation of attosecond x-ray special beams using high-order harmonic generation from macroscopic targets), has started, with Julio San Román and Carlos Hernández Garcia as the principal investigators. In the SpecX project, they aim to advance in the macroscopic management of ultrarapid light beams, from the femtosecond/infrared to the attosecond/X-ray regime, with special emphasis on the study of complex topological fields. To do this, advanced simulation codes are required, given that the mechanisms for generating such short laser pulses, through nonlinear laser post-compression or high-order harmonics generation, combine microscopic and macroscopic physics, which poses a great challenge.

To achieve this goal, the following objectives have been defined:

  • Exploit high-performance computational strategies that use artificial intelligence to access these new extreme non-linear optical scenarios.
  • Design ultrarapid pulses structured in the femtosecond/infrared regime through different non-linear propagation schemes, such as the use of hollow core fibers and photonic crystals, and multipass cells.
  • Explore new schemes for the process of high-order harmonics generation in the X-ray and attosecond regime, such as crystalline solids irradiated by fields.
  • Explore the generation of high-order harmonics with post-compressed laser pulses in combined regimes.
  • Propose new experimental proposals for the generation of structured X-ray fields in the attosecond regime.

The SpecX project falls under the Call Programa Estatal para Impulsar la Investigación Científico-Técnica y su Transferencia, del Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023. It has a duration of three years and has received funding of €127,500 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Agencia Estatal de Investigación, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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adminNew research project: SpecX

María Sánchez, student of the master’s degree in Physics and Technology of Lasers, obtains one of the 20 prestigious international scholarships ‘Optica Woman Scholar’

On October 20 at the Ministry of Universities in Madrid, student Marina Fernández Galán was awarded the 2nd Prize of the XX ‘Arquímedes’ University Contest for Introduction to Scientific Research.

The award was awarded by the Ministry of Universities and the CSIC, for his work entitled “Extreme self-compression of infrared laser pulses in hollow fibers with decreasing pressure gradients” developed from his final degree work under the direction of Enrique Conejero. and Julio San Román.

The complete information is available on the website of the Press Room service of the University of Salamanca and in various media outlets that have also echoed the news.

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adminMaría Sánchez, student of the master’s degree in Physics and Technology of Lasers, obtains one of the 20 prestigious international scholarships ‘Optica Woman Scholar’

Margaret Murnane and Antonio Colinas new Doctors Honoris Causa from USAL

The Irish physicist Margaret Murnane and the Leonese poet Antonio Colinas were invested as honorary doctors from the University of Salamanca on June 19.

The investiture ceremony was presided over by the rector, Ricardo Rivero, and held in the Auditorium of the Escuelas Mayores.

The ceremony held in Latin, in which professors Carlos Hernández García (principal investigator of Attostructura) and María Ángeles Pérez López, from the Department of Applied Physics and the Department of Spanish and Latin American Literature, respectively, acted as godfather and godmother of the new honorary doctors, had the assistance from numerous academic and institutional authorities.

The proposal of the Department of Applied Physics to appoint the scientist Margaret Mary Murnane as doctor honoris causa was defended by Professor Carlos Hernández García. Professor Murnane’s work focuses on the science of X-rays and ultra-fast lasers. Her multiple discoveries have transformed the field, making it possible to capture and manipulate quantum dynamics on the faster time scales relevant to atoms, molecules, and materials.

Her research is distinguished by its innovation, impact and transversality, integrating laser technology as a transforming element in various fields such as optics, magnetism, chemistry, materials engineering or biology. Her ideas have been widely adopted in the worlds of science and industry. In fact, laser light sources based on her work can be found in most universities and research institutions around the world.

During her acceptance speech, Professor Murnane highlighted the scientific collaboration that she has maintained for a decade with the Research Group on Laser Applications and Photonics in Applied Physics and Technology, which she recognized as one of the few research groups in the world with knowledge both optical science and quantum mechanics and atomic physics.

With her appointment as an honorary doctorate, Professor Margaret Murnane has become the eleventh woman to receive that honor at the University of Salamanca. The exhibition “Women honorary doctors at the University of Salamanca”, coordinated by professors Esther del Brío, professor of Financial Economics, and Inmaculada Sánchez Barrios, director of the Equality Unit, already has a panel commemorating the incorporation of Professor Murnane into the faculty of doctors.

Numerous media outlets have echoed her appointment and her inauguration ceremony.

In addition, the entire ceremony can be seen and heard on the USAL YouTube channel and on the USAL Radio service. It is also possible to download the thank you and laudatio speeches at this link.

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adminMargaret Murnane and Antonio Colinas new Doctors Honoris Causa from USAL

Physics students from the University of Zaragoza visit the ALF – USAL group and the CLPU (2023)

As in previous years, the students of the Laser and Applications subject of the Physics degree at the University of Zaragoza together with their professor Sebastián Jarabo have visited our group to see first-hand the research being carried out and the operation of the equipment that is part of our laboratories.

This year, in addition to our facilities, they have also visited the  Pulsed Laser Center- CLPU.

You can see the photographs of the view in this gallery.

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adminPhysics students from the University of Zaragoza visit the ALF – USAL group and the CLPU (2023)

Launch of the FASLIGHT network

The Research Network “Fundamentals and Applications of Structured Light” FASLIGHT has already started.

This network has emerged within the framework of the «Redes de Investigación» call within the framework of the Programa Estatal para Impulsar la Investigación Científico-Técnica y su Transferencia, del Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023. The action will last 2 years, starting in June 2023 and has received €20,300 in funding from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación.

The objective of the FASLIGHT network is to create a Spanish structured light network, uniting scientific groups with diverse experience in fundamental and applied physics, but with common points in the use of structured light. For this it is intended:

  • Establish a collaboration framework beyond the already existing bilateral collaborations under the umbrella of structured light, in which research groups from various fields of specialization can share their work, discuss novel ideas and promote new collaborations.
  • Activate new collaborations between Spanish groups that make use of structured light and explore potential collaborations between distant research fields.
  • Promote the international visibility of Spanish groups that work within the framework of structured light.
  • Motivate future project proposals, including European funds such as Marie Curie ITN, PATHFINDER, etc., and national and regional funds.
  • Promote the use of structured light as a key transformative technology in Spain.

The FASLIGHT network is made up of the following 15 nodes:

  1. Grupo de Aplicaciones del Láser y Fotónica, represented by Luis Plaja Rustein, from the Universidad de Salamanca (USAL).
  2. Estructuras fotónicas no lineales, represented by Albert Ferrando, from the Universitat de València (UV).
  3. Engineering physics group, represented by Ángel Paredes, from the Universidad de Vigo (UVigo).
  4. Attosecond and ultrafast x-ray optics (AUXO), represented by Antonio Picón, from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (AUM)
  5. Grupo de Fotónica Aplicada / Applied Photonics Group, represented by David Novoa from the Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU).
  6. Grupo de Investigación de Óptica (GROC-UJI), represented by Enrique Tajahuerce, from the Universitat Jaume I (UJI).
  7. Grupo de investigación en luz estructurada de la Universidad de Zaragoza, represented by Francisco Javier Salgado Remacha, from the Universidad de Zaragoza (UZ)
  8. Quantum Nanophotonics Laboratory, represented by Gabriel Molina Terriza, from the Materials Physics Center.
  9. Grupo de Tecnología Óptica y Optoelectrónica – TecnOpto-UMH, represented by Ignacio Moreno, from the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (UMH)
  10. Grupo de luz estructurada UCM: Control espacial/temporal de haces láser continuo/pulsado y sus aplicaciones, represented by Jose A. Rodrigo Martín-Romo, from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
  11. Laboratorio de Óptica (LOUM), represented by Juan Manuel Bueno, from the Universidad de Murcia (UMU).
  12. Grupo Photonics4Life, represented by María Teresa Flores Arias, from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC).
  13. Grupo Theory for Quantum Technologies Group (TQT group), represented by Miguel Ángel García March from the Universitat Politécnica de València (UPV)
  14. Grupo de Sistemas Complejos (GSC), represented by Miguel Ángel Porras, from the  Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)
  15. Grupo Quantum Atom Optics (QAOS), represented by Verònica Ahufinger, from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
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adminLaunch of the FASLIGHT network

Announcement of defense of doctoral thesis – Javier Prada-Rodrigo

On June 8th, Javier Prada Rodrigo will present his doctoral thesis entitled “Formation and characterization of surface micro- and nanostructures in polymers and polymeric nanocomposites prepared by irradiation with pulsed nano- and femtosecond lasers” and directed by the doctors D. Pablo Moreno Pedraz and Dª. Esther Rebollar González
 

The defense act will take place at 11:30 a.m. in the Francisco de Vitoria classroom of the Escuelas Mayores Building.

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adminAnnouncement of defense of doctoral thesis – Javier Prada-Rodrigo

Announcement of defense of doctoral thesis – Miguel López Ripa

On May 26, Miguel López Ripa will present his doctoral thesis entitled “Development of ultra-stable characterization techniques for ultrashort laser beams” and directed by doctors D. Íñigo Juan Sola Larrañaga and Mr. Benjamin Alonso Fernandez.

The defense act will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the Francisco de Vitoria classroom of the Escuelas Mayores Building.

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adminAnnouncement of defense of doctoral thesis – Miguel López Ripa

Published the list of winners of the V Photo Contest “Día de la Luz”

On the occasion of the celebration on May 16 of the International Day of Light, the list of winners of the V “Day of Light” Photographic Contest organized by the Master’s Degree in Physics and Technology of Lasers (USAL – UVA) has been published. These  entities and organizations also collaborate:

The complete verdict can be read on the website of the Master’s Degree in Physics and Technology of Lasers.

Below we include the 4 award-winning photographs.

1st Category: Light Technologies and Optical Phenomena.

    • First prize for the photograph entitled “Levitation: the magic of planet Earth” taken by D. Adrián de la Fuente Ballesteros.

Description: The image represents a hologram of planet Earth generated with a mobile phone and a piece of methacrylate in the shape of an inverted pyramid. It is a three-dimensional photograph that constitutes an optical duplicate of an object and allows it to be observed from different viewing angles.

    • Second prize for the photograph entitled “A celestial reflection” taken by Ms. María Flores Ceballos.

Description: The image shows the well-known painting “The Sky of Salamanca” and its reflection created with the help of a CD, which acts as a small flat mirror. In this way, the painting apparently forms a complete circle.

2nd Category: The Laser.

    • First prize for the photograph entitled “Flúor Tonic” taken by Ms. Blanca Durán Salvador.

Description: Image where fluorescence is observed when we hit the tonic with a violet laser, comparing it with a green laser for which this phenomenon does not occur.

    • Second prize for the photograph entitled “Conducting the Light” taken by Mr. Mario Guerras Rodríguez.

Description: We trap laser light in a flow of water that forms a parabola towards the ground. The total reflection effect appears and the light cannot leave the water until it reaches the ground, as if it were a fiber optic cable.

Many thanks to all the participants and congratulations to the winners.

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adminPublished the list of winners of the V Photo Contest “Día de la Luz”