Today a preprint of a paper on our laser system was published on the arXiv server. We present the details of our laser system and first applications with it. We will celebrate the publication once it has gone through the peer review process. Nevertheless, we are all happy for Katrin about this important step.

Link to the preprint

Yesterday and today, the Entdecker*innentage took place at the University of Oldenburg on the Wechloy campus. School classes and interested parties were able to gain insights into research and carry out small experiments themselves over two days. We opened our laboratory doors for many small guided tours. One highlight was our "treasure hunt on the nanoscale", in which our electron microscope played an important role.

We are currently advertising a further position that will give you the opportunity to do a doctorate. Due to the approaching end of the first funding phase next year, the position will initially be relatively short-term. However, this should be extended quickly once the second funding phase has been approved. We look forward to receiving applications as well as personal enquiries in advance.

https://uol.de/stellen?stelle=70307

There are of course still opportunities to write a Bachelor's or Master's thesis.

At the start of the summer semester, Thea and Philip decided to write their bachelor theses in our group. Congratulations on this wise decision. ;) Over the next few months, they will be working on the preparation of atomically defined surfaces and investigating gold nanostructures using our photoemission electron microscope and short laser pulses. It will certainly be exciting, we wish you a good start!

If you are interested in writing a bachelor thesis, please contact a current group member or one of our alumni to find out more about working in our group.

Today, Niels successfully gave his presentation as our last Bachelor student. His work dealt with the topic "Pulse energy stability in optical frequency conversion stages: Set-up and Characterisation". He analysed in detail how the pulse energy stability develops in our relatively complex laser system from the pump laser to the output pulses. He was also involved in the construction of part of the system. Many thanks for the support and all the best for the Master's programme!

A new bachelor's thesis is already starting at the end of March, but we still have some supervision capacity. Please get in touch!

At last! The first harmonics have not only been produced, but also measured. Congratulations to Arvid, Katrin, Kerstin and Lina, a great achievement!

Within almost exactly one year, they have set up the laser system and put the attosecond beamline into operation. A year ago, there was only the optical table in the lab and the pump laser had just been put into operation. Both the laser system and the beamline, which includes the gas target and the XUV spectrometer, are in-house developments. We would particularly like to thank the mechanical workshops at the University of Oldenburg, who provide us with fast and competent support in many areas.

Experimental work from Jan's time in Lund has now made it to publication. The paper recently published in the journal Advanced Physics Research.

The publication is about the first demonstration of a time-resolved experiment with attosecond pulses in a photoemission electron microscope. We have been working on this for a long time and with the experience we have gained, we want to carry out the first experiments on fundamental questions of light-matter interaction in Oldenburg. With high spatio-temporal resolution, in keeping with the name of our junior research group.

The article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/apxr.202300122

Our work is also highlighted in Advanced Science News:

https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/investigating-ultrafast-dynamics-of-matter-with-attosecond-pulses-of-light/

And there is a press release from the university:

https://uol.de/pressemitteilungen/2023/238

A small interview has been published on the university homepage about attosecond physics in Oldenburg and the connection to Lund. The occasion is, of course, the Nobel Prize in Physics 2023.

Click here for the interview.

We warmly welcome Lina Hansen to the atto group. She starts today (ah, Sunday: tomorrow!) with us in the group as a PhD student. She already brings experience in electron microscopy of 2D materials and will therefore initially strengthen our PEEM team. We wish her every success and a good start!

Anne L'Huillier, one of the co-founders of the field of attosecond physics, received the Leibinger Foundation's Zukunftspreis 2023 a few days ago. On the occasion of the award ceremony, a short film was made about her and her work in the laboratories in Lund that I think is well worth seeing. Watch it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=augwNV76x_4

A German version is also available.

Addendum on 03.10.2023: She also deservedly receives the Nobel Prize in Physics 2023.

The time has (finally) come, our photoemission electron microscope (PEEM) is ready for use and was put into operation yesterday and today by the manufacturer together with us. There were no surprises, all our special requests and own modifications worked without any problems. We only had to make some spontaneous adjustments to the laser light, but this was done quickly. So we were not only able to test the (classical) imaging part, but also the time-of-flight option, which will provide us with spectral information about the electrons in addition to the spatially high-resolution images. We are looking forward to using the microscope as our group's main instrument.

We would like to congratulate Kerstin on receiving the award of the Faculty V for her final thesis in the subject Bachelor Physics, which she did in our group. The award is given annually and only one person with a freshly acquired degree (Bachelor, Master, Doctorate) at the Institute of Physics is honoured. The award ceremony took place today during the faculty's graduation ceremony in building A14.

We currently have two doctoral positions available. Feel free to contact us in advance without obligation if you would like to find out more details or get to know people or the lab better. We look forward to receiving your applications.

We warmly welcome Niels Cordes to our small group. He will be doing his bachelor's thesis with us in the next few months and will be responsible for part of the laser setup for generating attosecond pulses. Good luck!

Our laser was not only delivered, but also installed today! Many thanks to Mr. Quint from Topag, who was able to speed up the shipment at Light Conversion by a few more days. Now we have to learn how to handle the 80W of average power.

Our laser was delivered today! On time as announced, we are very happy about the reliability of the manufacturer Light Conversion. Now we have to keep our fingers crossed that the laser shows itself from an equally reliable side during commissioning and operation over the next years.

We welcome the first PhD student in the junior research group Attosecond Microscopy: Katrin Meier has her first working day at the University of Oldenburg tomorrow. We are very pleased that Katrin will be working on her research project on ultrafast electron microscopy in our group from now on. She already has extensive experience with ultrashort laser pulses and will initially work with Arvid to advance the construction of our laser system. Good luck and a good start!

Today we got a core hole drilled between the lab and the adjacent maintenance shaft. We will use this to move cooling units and vacuum pumps out of the lab to improve thermal stability in the lab. Nice side effect: it will be quieter!

There is a first picture of our new photoemission electron microscope. Unfortunately, this is not yet a picture taken by the microscope itself, but a photo of the microscope showing the progress of its construction at the manufacturer. Externally, it is already finished, but there are still last details to be optimised inside. We are looking forward to seeing it delivered soon.

Even though major projects are usually characterised by delivery delays and cost increases, our PEEM is preparing to be completed earlier than expected. Focus company is confident that we will be able to carry out the two-day acceptance of the complete unit in Hünstetten as early as the second half of October. Afterwards, we can take it directly to Oldenburg (or, better, have it sent insured by parcel/pallet) and put it into operation here. This is a unique opportunity to receive direct training from the manufacturer and then use the microscope in our laboratory. Please contact us if you are interested.

The optical table will be delivered at the end of August, so that all the new purchases can no longer pile up in the offices but in the lab. Does anyone feel like setting up a camera (Raspberry Pi?) to document the setup with regular photos in the weeks that follow? :)

Our new laser (Light Conversion Carbide, 80 W, 250 fs) has now been ordered and is being manufactured in Lithuania. Delivery is scheduled for the turn of the year. Before that, we will probably receive a "demo laser", which will allow us to start earlier already in October.

In parallel, the order and delivery of the electron microscope (PEEM) is also well on its way. It is already finished "in principle", but still needs the usual test programme and its own electronics unit. In addition, the second detector (delay line detector) still has to be integrated. A partial delivery in October is planned so that we can start on time with the beginning of the winter semester.

Furthermore, all kinds of other components have now been ordered or are in the ordering process, so that many new components are waiting to be used in the autumn. Interested? Feel free to contact us!

There is currently new information on advertised projects on the "Open Positions" subpage. Feel free to check it out!

Congratulations to Anne L'Huillier at Lund University on receiving this year's Wolf Prize in Physics together with Paul Corkum and Ferenc Krausz. She and her colleagues receive the award for their groundbreaking work in the field of ultrafast and attosecond physics.

Here you can find the announcement on the Lund University website.

The tenders for the photoemission electron microscope and the pump laser are well underway, and the invitations to submit quotations were recently sent to the successful companies in the first round. Unfortunately, there will be no delivery for Christmas (this year).

Merry Christmas!

Two positions for doctoral candidates in our junior research group are currently being advertised. Take the opportunity and apply! Many topics are combined in our group. You can learn a lot, a broad prior knowledge is not necessary. However, a large portion of curiosity is desirable.

uol.de/stellen?stelle=68507

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

An interview with us was published on the website "photonworld". The occasion is the approval of the Emmy Noether junior research group in Oldenburg. The website is generally concerned with the topic of light and the transfer of knowledge, especially to schoolchildren. It accompanies the PhotonLab at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching and is closely linked to Prof. Dr. Ferenc Krausz's group there.

The University Press Office has prepared a press release on the launch of this junior research group and published it today. Many thanks in particular to Sonja Niemann for writing the release and Markus Hibbeler for the photos. Thanks also for the effort it took to find your way around both in Wechloy and in the field of Physics. Hopefully there will be another opportunity for collaboration soon.

www.presse.uni-oldenburg.de/mit/2021/198.html

A month has passed far too quickly, I was in Lund for just under two weeks before the lecture period began. Since then, a few things have been set in motion. The specifications for the large-scale equipment are now at the DFG and will hopefully soon be published in the form of a call for tenders. In addition, there is now this website and, indispensable in everyday university life, this junior research group now has a financial and cost centre for the Emmy Noether Project. This would allow us to spend money, which would mean the official start of the project. But at best, this should not happen with a package of disposable gloves, size M, in the laboratory supply store. There should be a better opportunity...

Today, we received written confirmation of acceptance into the DFG's Emmy Noether Programme, thus laying the foundation for this working group. Many thanks to all the supporters in Oldenburg and Lund, without you this probably wouldn't have worked. Thanks also to the reviewers and the Emmy Noether Panel of the DFG for the positive reviews. Now we have to live up to expectations and use the funding in a targeted way. Let's go!