MUR International Project EUROFEL (European Free Electron Lasers)

The project, initially called IRUVX-FEL (InfraRed to Ultraviolet and soft-X-ray FELs) and included in the ESFRI Roadmap since 2006, was then called EuroFEL and sees now the participation of Italy, Germany, Sweden, France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Turkey, Netherlands, Russia and Poland. Goal of the project is the construction of a distributed European infrastructure of Free-Electron Laser (FEL) sources operating from the infrared to the ultraviolet and x-rays spectral region. Its evolution is driven by the need of meeting the technological and scientific challenges of these novel accelerator-based light sources, as well to provide the international user community with pioneering applications that fully exploit their scientific potential. FEL sources as FERMI and SPARC in Italy, FLASH and XFEL in Germany, SwissFEL in Switzerland offer the unique opportunity to address the study of ultra-fast phenomena, at the level of typical core hole lifetimes, with a concentration of photons ten orders of magnitude higher than those available at the most modern third generation synchrotrons. Thanks to the unequalled properties of the FEL light, out-of-equilibrium states of matter can be thoroughly investigated from the physical, chemical and biological point of view. Coherent and pump-probe imaging techniques are used to study the structure of matter at the atomic scale and its dynamic. In case of seeded FEL, as FERMI, the sample can be illuminated with both the FEL light and the light of the seed laser that initiated the FEL process. In alternative, two different FEL pulses, eventually at distinct wavelengths, can be generated by two different pulses of the seed laser or with two different opening setting of the undulator chain. Such pulses can be delayed with respect to each  other and can be provided to the users to perform pump-probe experiments. In this way, detailed information on the evolution of transient or out-of-equilibrium phenomena in matter can be obtained.

Other Italian public research institutions involved

• INFN - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati;
• CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto IOM-CNR and Istituto ISM-CNR;
• ENEA - Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente, Frascati.

 

International scientific and technical collaborations

• Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), D-22607 Hamburg, Germany;
• European XFEL GmbH, D-22761 Hamburg, Germany;
• Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB), D-14109 Berlin, Germany;
• MAX IV Laboratory, SE-223 63 Lund, Sweden;
• Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), CH 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland;
• SOLEIL, F-91192 Gif sur Yvette, France;
• Science and Technology Facilities Council, Swindon SN2 1SZ, United Kingdom;
• National Centre for Nuclear Research, PL 05-400 Otwock, Poland;
• Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP), Novosibirsk, Russia;
• CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 75794 Paris cedex 16, France;
• Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Nederlands;
• Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.

Strategic objectives

• Production of FEL light pulses with exceptional reproducibility and stability in intensity, wavelength and line width together with the control of their main properties, such as phase, coherence, wavelength(s), duration, polarization and synchronization to an external laser with unprecedented precision.
• Offer to the international users community of unique opportunities to perform ultrafast imaging experiments, soft X-ray microscopy, time-resolved spectroscopy of mesoscopic dynamics, scattering in matter under extreme conditions, atomic and molecular physics, spectroscopy of intermediate products in chemical reactions, imaging and spectroscopy of clusters and nanoparticles, ultrafast magnetic dynamic, coherent Raman and transient grating spectroscopy, Terahertz spectroscopy, inelastic scattering from liquid and chaotic systems.
• Continuous upgrade programme driven by the needs of the most prestigious international research groups to assure of the uniqueness of FERMI performance in the European and Global scientific landscapes.
• Strengthening of the national skills for the development of novel materials and technologies, also in support of applications in the manufacturing, biomedical and energy production industry.
• Development and transfer of new technologies to specialized industries with the aim of strengthening their role in the world market of light sources. Attraction of new companies to Italy and creation of new spin-offs.