ELI Beamlines Brochure

8/4/2019 ELI Beamlines Brochure

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INTRODUCTIONby Professor Vlastimil Ruzicka,Vice-minister for Researchand Higher Education

OnOctober T". 2009 the representatives of the 13 funding agencies involved inthe ELI Preparatory Phase Consortium approved the integrated proposal for theimplementation of the Extreme-light-Infrastructure presented by the CzechRepublic, Hungary and Romania. The three candidate host nations received themandate to continue their development of an integrated ELI established on threesites and placed under a single legal and governance umbrella. The CzechRepublicwas entrusted with the specific mission to build the beamlines facility of ELI,one ofthe keycomponents ofthe project.

I am pleased to confirm that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports intendsto provide a funding of 260 million euros for the construction of this facility. Fullysupported by the Government of the Czech Republic (Resolution No.1514, datedNovember 24th, 2008), this commitment is the natural consequence of the strongexpertise in laser science acquired over the last 30 years by the Czech researchcommunity and the expression of its strong involvement in scientific initiatives ofEuropean and international interest.It also testifies the belief of the Czech Republic in the virtues of a knowledge-

based economy. We know the outstanding role that world-class researchinfrastructures can play in contributing to amore sustainable growth and in findinganswers to the global issues of our time. ELI represents indeed a wonderfulopportunity to make the triangle of knowledge between the industry, the academiaand the research community a reality.

Implemented in three new Member States, ELI will represent a majorcontribution to the success of the European ResearchArea initiative by supportingbetter cohesion and balance in the access to excellent research infrastructures andby promoting mobility of researchers throughout Europe. It is the intention of theCzech Republic, Hungary and Romania to preserve and promote the original pan-European dimension of ELI. The three countries invite all Member States toparticipate in this endeavour in order to make this future infrastructure a trulyEuropean achievement.


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Initiated by Professor Gerard Mourou in 2005. the ELIproject aims atpushing further ahead the frontiers of laser science by exploring theworld of ultra-relativistic physics. a regime characterized by extremelyhigh light intensities (over 1023 W.cm-2).

The generation of such unprecedented intensity levels will pave theway to awide range of scientific applications. On the one hand. ELIwillenable to mimic at the pin-head scale the extreme conditions thatprevail in some parts of the outer space. like in the vicinity of black holes.As the only infrastructure worldwide able to study the interactionbetween laser and vacuum. it will give a new insight on the fundamentallaws of the Universe. On the other hand. the extreme intensity levelsreached by ELI will enable particle acceleration on devices far morecompact than todav's accelerators. This dramatic downsizing willbenefit numerous societal and industrial applications.The Czech Republic as a candidate for hosting ELI considered that

this large spectrum of opportunities would be most effectivelyharnessed if ELI were implemented as a multiple-sited facility.Following extensive negotiations. the Steering Committee of the ELIPreparatory Phase Consortium approved this approach and gave theCzechRepublic the mandate to implement one of the core componentsof ELI "the so-called Beamlines Facility". the attosecond andphotonuclear components of the project being built in Hungary andRomania.The backbone of the designed ELI Beamlines Facility will be a large

laser system generating short pulses with duration of typically 20 fs.This system will involve laser beams providing multi-PW peak powerand running at a repetition rate of 10 Hz.aswell as laser beams runningat a lower repetition rate and delivering peak power of 20 to 50 PW forfundamental research. The ultra-short and ultra-intense pulses of lightand particles generated at the designed ELI facility will allow a broadspectrum of projects in fundamental and applied research. notably inchemistry. biology. medical technologies. development of newmaterials. and others.


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The ELI project aims at building the first laser infrastructure of pan-Europeanimportance dedicated to multi-disciplinary studies and secondary sources productionand applications providing open access to users. The European Strategic Forum onResearch Infrastructures formally recognized the project's exceptional ambition andsupranational dimension by including ELI into its Roadmap of 44 large-scale researchinfrastructure projects of high priority published in 2006 and updated in 2008.Launched in November 2006. the Preparatory Phase of ELI now involves nearly 40

research and academic institutions from 13 EU Member States. The Institute ofPhysics of the CzechAcademy of Sciences takes part in this phase as the coordinator ofthe strategic work package on lasers. The Preparatory Phase is expected to define thegovernance. legal. safety and financial model of the future infrastructure and to deliveradetailed technical design enabling the start of the construction phase.

Deciding on the location of the infrastructure was another major task of thePreparatory Phase. On October pt. 2009 the representatives of the funding agenciesinvolved in the Preparatory PhaseConsortium approved the integrated proposal for theimplementation of ELIpresented by the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. Thethree candidate host nations received the mandate to continue their development of anintegrated ELI established on three sites dedicated respectively to the beamline.attosecond and photonuclear dimensions of the project. It was also decided that thelocation of the emblematic ultra-high intensity component of ELIwould be decided in2012. with aconstruction phase expected to be completed between 2016 and 2018.The ELIsites will be placed under the centralized governance of a single

European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).a new legal entitycreated by the European Union and specifically designed for the needsof large-scale research infrastructures. Established by the three hostcountries. the ELI-ERICis expected to be as inclusive as possibleand to enjoy close relationships with regional partnerfacilitiesalready under consideration. Located in the heart of Europe.the Extreme-Light-Infrastructure will contributesubstantially to reducing the imbalance of researchinfrastructures in Europe and to fosteringtransnational cooperation and mobility fully in linewith the European Research Area initiative.


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III. eliSC IENTIFIC M ISSIONOF THE BEAMLINES FAC ILITY


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The dawn of compact electron acceleratorsTheoretical and numerical simulations based on recent experiments have proven that ELIwill

have the capacity to accelerate electrons up to energy levels that have only been achievable onlarge superconducting accelerators so far. The fields of applications opened by these futureenergetic electron beams are wide and promising: cancer therapy. water radiolysis. flashelectron diffraction. and more fundamental physics for the highest energy levels (electroninteraction with matter. particle or photons).Sources offlash "(-raysfor medical and industrial usesUnder specific conditions. electron acceleration enables the production of y-ray beams that

can have interesting applications notably in flash radiography of the human body.A strong focusis put by the research community involved in this field on angiography and mammography forvery early detection of tumours with increased chances of successful treatments. Flashradiography with y-rays of high energy could also be used within some industries - nuclearvessels. planes - to detect small and deep material dislocations and material ageing.Laser-driven X-ray lasersProducing photons of very short wavelengths allows applications in many fields of research.

from Biology (3D images of macromolecules or living cells. study of haemoglobin dynamics). toChemistry (triggered chemical reactions. study of reactions in very high resolution). or Physics(study of the core of giant planets. atomic physics). So far. this is achieved within hugesynchrotron facilities. The X-ray lasers (free-electron or plasma based) harboured in theBeamline site are expected to enable similar applications at amuch smaller scale.Study of new state ofmatter for Planetary ScienceThe core of giant planets like Jupiter is made of highly compressed. warm and highly ionized

matter. The physics of this uncommon state of matter has been subject to long-lastingtheoretical studies. With the recent development of ultra-intense X-ray lasers. one may nowexpect the creation of this state in the lab. Thanks to the versatility of ELI.we may create this so-called "warm dense matter" and also probe it with the full panel of secondary sources driven bythe ELIlasers.


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IV . e liA STRONG EXPERTISEIN LASER RESEARCH


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For nearly 30 years the Czech Republic has built up andstrengthened its involvement in laser research. and its continuouseffort has given rise to the country's recognition at the Europeanlevel asastate-of-the-art expert.

The development of two high-power laser systems (Golem andPerun) in the 1980s by the research teams of the Czech TechnicalUniversity and the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy ofSciences. made many experiments in the field of laser-plasmainteraction possible. and contributed to the expansion of thenational laser research community.Operated since 2000 by the Institute of Physics together with the

Institute of Plasma Physics. the PragueAsterix Laser Facility (PALS)has confirmed the Czech Republic as an important actor in laserresearch in Europe. PALS.able to deliver 300-picosecond pulses of1 k.J.has produced numerous significant contributions to the studyof laser-matter interaction under extreme conditions. and hasprovided the European research community with unique and highquality secondary sources - most notably soft X-ray lasers.These advances have been accomplished with the European

connection in mind. and have resulted in many internationalexperiments and in forming stable collaborations with severalforeign research institutions. PALSwas distinctively recognized asthe first Laserlab partner in terms of transnational access (inproportion to its financial contribution) between 2004 and 2007.The ongoing involvement of most of the administrative andresearch members of the PALS team in the preparatory phases ofsuch ambitious projects as HiPERand ELI is the present singularillustration of this resolute European and international orientation.


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V . e liMAK ING REALTHE TRIANGLE OF KNOW LEDGE


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Large-scale research infrastructures such asELIrepresent awonderfulopportunity to tackle the fragmentation of our knowledge systems. createstrong organic links between the actors of its creation and build togetherthe three elements of the "triangle of knowledge" - innovation.research and education.

The construction of ELI represents a major leap forward in thedevelopment of laser technologies and therefore requires a stronginvolvement of the industry in the project. It is our aim to use theexcellence of ELI in a strategic way by building up a "hub of intellectualcapital" thatwill promote knowledge-sharing.

Numerous European and Czech institutions involved in highereducation have already expressed their strong interest in the project. Asfor the industry. ELI represents both a technological challenge andagrowth opportunity. Beyond the scientific outcomes of the project. it willbe essential to foster the creation of added value. This will result inparticular from the technological developments outsourced tocompanies and from close partnerships between the industry and theacademic world. In this respect. the creation of a technological park inthe vicinity of the ELI beamline facility is already considered in order tofoster synergies between the various actors involved and interested in theproject.The participation of industrial partners will be required during the

construction phase through the supply and development of the finestequipments and components. but also during operation. in order toguarantee the sustainability and potential upgrade of the infrastructure.Furthermore. a small share of the access time isexpected to bededicatedto contractual users interested in using the laser and secondary sourcesavailable at ELI for custom development. testing and probing of newmaterials. pharmaceuticals. detectors and for testing prospectiveindustrial technologies.The Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences has well-

established relations with many companies specialised in fields such asoptics. laser materials. detectors. advanced vacuum technologies.advanced control and regulation systems. manipulators. robotic systems.computer vision. medical technology and instrumentation.


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STRONG LINKSWITHTHE ACADEMIC W ORLD


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Asa large-scale research infrastructure. ELIwill involve awide community of researchers. butwill also require an extended and highly skilled workforce answering the technical andadministrative needs of the facility. Of course. as a pan-European institution. ELI will relysignificantly on the participation of foreign users. However. the contribution of the CzechRepublic in terms of human resources will beessential.

In this respect. considering the timeline of the project. the establishment of strongpartnerships between academic and research institutions isrequired well ahead the operationalphase in order to provide ELI with an efficient and sufficient workforce. The creation of aconsortium gathering 14 Czech Universities and research institutions interested in the ELIproject (see map below) is a first answer to this challenge. The kick-off meeting of this jointinitiative was organized in February 2009 in Prague. In the near future. the creation of newgraduate degrees and training programs in relation with the science of ELI is expected. to thebenefit of the growing community of Czech students and researchers (the number of studentsregistered in CzechUniversities has increased bymore than 50% since 2002. while the numberof doctorate graduates has nearly doubled).

ELI represents undoubtedly a wonderful opportunity for students interested in a career inthe research sector. It is also the aim of the consortium to contribute to the promotion of theproject in the CzechRepublic.


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VII . e liTHE S ITEEASY ACCESS & H IG H QUALITY


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The selected site of the ELIissituated in the southern vicinity of Prague, in thetown of Dolni Brezany, in the Central Bohemia Region. A six-hectare lot isconsidered for the construction of the infrastructure and a future largetechnological park.

The natural environment surrounding the site aswell asthe availability of highquality services (shops and commercial centers, schools, hospitals, etc.)represent ideal conditions for hosting an infrastructure of this kind. Thislocation iseasily accessible from the CzechRepublic, Europe and the rest of theworld. It is in close proximity to the nearly completed Prague motorway ring,which directly connects to the European motorway network and providescommunication with downtown Prague and with the Huzvne InternationalAirport within a 20-minute drive. The indicative driving time is 3 hours to Berlinand Bratislava, 3.5 hours to Munich and Vienna, 4.5 hours to Budapest, and 9 to10hours toWarsaw, Parisor Brussels.The airport offers frequent direct flights to105 destinations in 46 countries and connections to the major European citiesseveral times aday.

Dolnl Brezany is located immediately beyond the southern administrativeboundary of Prague and is a developing community with a clear and coherentconcept of local and regional development. This is evidenced by the village'spublic school and its newly completed commercial centre / village square,where one finds a complex of buildings for residential. commercial-administrative-business use,and anew 3.5-hectare public parkwith a lake. Intheperiphery of the village centre, there is a considerable amount of housing (bothsingle and multi-family varieties), sports facilities and areas for production.Near to the new centre is a Baroque chateau, which is in the list of nationalcultural heritage; it isanticipated that this chateau will within the next few yearsbe reconstructed for use asa four star hotel with restaurant. These architecturalalterations shall result in the creation of a representative urban axis connectingthe new commercial centre, the new pedestrian zone in front of the chateau andthe new technology campus to be comprised of ELI buildings. Thisrepresentative, science and technology park will offer employees a pleasantworking environment with sufficient support services and opportunities forrelaxation, leisure and other outside activities.


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CENTRA L BOH EM IA ,A DYNAM IC REG ION PROUD OF ITS H ISTORYThe Region of Central Bohemia is the most dynamically developing area of the 13 territorialadministrative units of the CzechRepublic. It harbors major industrial sites and prides itself with

a thoroughly developed infrastructure. Many companies involved in the automotive industryhavetheir headquarters and production sites in the region; these include CzechHepublic's largestautomaker Skoda Auto a.s. in Mlada Boleslav; the joint venture automobile plant of ToyotaPeugeot in Kolin; Valeo. the producer of components and integrated systems for cars and trucksin Rakovnlk; and Foxconn CZ, the producer of computers and computer componemts in KutnaHora. The region not only houses some of the biggest Czech exporters, it is also the operationalbaseof the nation's largest aerospace company, Aero Vodochody, developer and amanufacturerof civil and military aircrafts and aviation technology; as well as makers of chemical products,food, ceramics, and glass.


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The site of ELI would certainly benefit from and contribute to the economic dynamics ofthe region, while researchers would enjoy its remarkable environment.


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I X . e liM I LESTONES


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2005 Establishment of the scientific case of ELIby a poolof European participants

2005-2006 Peer review and assessment by the ESFRIinstitutionsSeptember 2006 Inclusion of ELIwithin the 35 projects of large-scale

research infrastructures of the ESFRIRoadmapNovember 2007 Official starting date of the Preparatory Phase of ELI

financially supported by the European CommissionFebruary 2008 Kick-off meeting of the Preparatory Phase in ParisSummer 2008 ELI receives the highest rank in the Czech Republic in the

review of the projects of research infrastructuresestablished by an international expert panel

September 2008 Submission of the Czech bid for hosting ELIOctober 2009 Decision of the Steering Committee of ELI giving a mandate

to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania to implementELIthrough the construction of 3 facilities placed under thesingle governance

September 2010 Final decision of the ECon the allocation of the structuralfunds of the Operational Program Research andDevelopment for Innovation

Fall 2010 End of the ELIPreparatory PhaseWinter 2010 Beginning of the Construction PhaseWinter 2012 End ofthe building's construction2013 Implementation of the laser and experimental sites2014 First photons emitted by ELIand commissioning2015 ELIopened to European and international users

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ELI Beamlines Brochure