New laser lab makes it possible to capture the movement of electrons
On 26 October, a new laser lab was inaugurated at the Department of Physics, and Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg participated. For Gothenburg, the lab opens up a new research field, and makes it possible to capture the movement of electrons.
The lab, which has been named Attohallen, will primarily be used for time-resolved attosecond spectroscopy of atoms and molecules - one attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second - and will be the first lab of its kind in Gothenburg.
“A specialty of this lab is that we will study electron emission processes of so-called negative ions, meaning atoms and molecules that have at least one excess electron,” says Raimund Feifel, professor at the Department of Physics.
Raimund Feifel leads the research project on attosecond spectroscopy, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, on which the new lab is based. The project is unique world-wide, and without the new lab, that type of study would not be possible.
The inauguration was attended by Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg, partners from Lund University and Stockholm University, representatives from Chalmersfastigheter and GISAB, as well as researchers and doctoral students at the department.
Eva Wiberg cut the ribbon at the entrance to the lab and then participated in the inauguration of the lab's HHG machine (Higher Harmonic Generation), an ultra-fast camera that can capture the movement of electrons.
“This is the result of a great collaboration between the University of Gothenburg, Lund University and Stockholm University, which will provide great possibilities to bring the laser research forward,” says Eva Wiberg.
The lab will also be available to other users nationally and internationally, as it will be operated as a user facility within the framework of the networks Laserlab Göteborg and Laserlab Sweden.
