What's in the White Book?

www.eli-laser.eu Courier Volume 2 No 4 December 2010 ISSN 2041-9023

News from the Extreme Light Infrastructure European project

What’s in the White Book?

E U R O P E A N COMMISSION Focus on France and Portugal The time for change is here Courier Started in November 2007, the preparatory phase of ELI Chief editor (ELI-PP) will come to its conclusion at the end of this year. Patrizio Antici CNRS While members of the various working groups are finaliz- 1, place Aristide-Briand ing the very last deliverables, the host countries are getting 92195 Meudon Cedex ready to take over for the implementation phase. They will France do so on solid grounds, thanks to the results of three years of intense efforts from all partners. By turning a concept into Managing editors Catia Peduto and what will soon become a reality, the ELI-PP has fully accom- Antonella Varaschin, plished its mission. This collective achievement is worth e-mail [email protected] celebrating: it embodies the maturity and ambition of the European laser community as well as its ability to team up Editorial committee Marta Fajardo Gérard Mourou for an exceptional project. Eleftheria Katsouli In this issue of ELI Courier, the last of the ELI-PP, you will Zdislava Lojdová find the latest news on the ELI White Book (p3), a document Zsuzsanna Marton that will represent the most accomplished consolidated Karoly Osvay expression of the scientific, technical, legal, organizational Carlos Russo and financial definition of ELI. You will also find an article Chief scientific adviser about the last important scientific topic related to ELI – X-ray Gérard Mourou production and the use of such a source for various applications (p4). Two beneficiaries – France (p6) and Portugal (p7) Subscriptions To subscribe or unsubscribe, – present themselves and their backgrounds in laser. At the e-mail [email protected] end of this issue, as usual, you can find the latest news (p8), including the progress of the three host countries. ELI Courier is produced for ELI by At this decisive turning point for the project, I wish to IOP Publishing address my sincere thanks to all of you who have shown Dirac House Temple Back interest in ELI and followed the progress of the ELI-PP Bristol BS1 6BE towards implementation. ELI Courier has been the messen- UK ger of this progress over the past years and I want to express Tel +44 (0)117 929 7481 my gratitude to all of those who have made it possible, nota- www.iop.org bly to the editorial board, and particularly to Catia Peduto, Publisher Antonella Varaschin and Patrizio Antici, for the hard work Claire Bedrock and commitment they have put into each issue. On the cusp of 2011, I wish all of you and your families a Art director happy new year. Andrew Giaquinto Production editor Gérard Mourou, ELI project co-ordinator Kate Gardner

Technical illustrator Alison Tovey

ISSN 2041-9023

Cover image: Architect drawings of the planned ELI buildings in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Contents 3 ELI White Book nears completion Romania. Courtesy: INFN. Georg Korn details the structure and content of this final document of the ELI-PP.

4 ELI looks to become soft X-ray source Philippe Zeitoun, Pedro Velarde and Bedrich Rus look at the possibility of using lasers as a soft X-ray source.

6 ‘Made in France’ lasers top the game

7 IPFN has big plans in store with ELI

8 News and events

2 December 2010 l ELI Courier Focus on: ELI phases ELI White Book nears completion

The preparatory phase INFN of ELI (ELI-PP) is now, after more than three years of hard work, coming to its end, culminating in the ELI White Book. Georg Korn explains what this means and what is involved in putting the book together.

The ELI-PP consortium of 13 countries has made big steps in all essential fields of pre paration, including the science and technology, funding and organization of the Architect drawings of the planned ELI buildings in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. future Extreme Light Infrastructure. The European Community has supported ELI- Hungary (Szeged) and Romania (Magurele of the new extreme light sources in other PP with a grant of €6m. The various work near Bucharest). fields of science and technology, such as packages include science and technology The book is composed of four parts: medicine, material science and X-ray imag- (lasers, secondary sources, infrastruc- ing. Theory and numerical simulations ture, safety and radioprotection), support 1. ELI vision describes the international will round up this section. actions (management, legal, governance, scientific and societary landscape of ELI, its strategy, site choice, finance) and commu- position in the European Strategy Forum 3. ELI technology summarizes in detail nication actions (trans-national network- on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) proc- the main technological approaches for ing, international communication). ess, links with other major ESFRI facilities the construction and control of short- One of the essential documents to be deliv- like HiPER and X-FEL, how it will stimulate pulse high-intensity lasers and the basis ered by the end of ELI-PP is the White Book. science community growth, including edu- for the generation and design of secondary This will summarize the essential devel- cation, through the integrated proposals of sources of advanced short-pulse X-rays, opments and results of the ELI-PP process, three countries, and how it may stimulate XUV-attosecond beams, and particle which has been supported extensively by new industrial developments and help to beams of electrons and ions. The laser and the European Commission (both in grants secure European leadership in photonic secondary sources of ELI will be perfectly and organizational help) and all 13 member science and in industry developments as a synchronized and therefore enable new countries through in-kind contributions. It user facility. experiments using, at the same time, pri- is currently being written by a large team of mary laser and secondary sources of radia- European scientists and managers. 2. ELI science presents different scientific tion and particle beams. The White Book structure reflects the topics that generate the quest for extreme work done within the work packages of ELI- light with a short time duration, very high 4. Implementation strategy details the PP as well as the progress achieved toward intensity and a covering of extreme spec- main steps on the way to building an inte- the realization of the next step – the imple- tral ranges, from terahertz to gamma grated ELI facility. The three planned facili- mentation of ELI at the three allocated sites radiation. Topics include: attosecond sci- ties and their corresponding science pillars – and thoughts on the ultra-intense laser ence, high-intensity physics, astrophysics, are described: the Czech beamlines facility, pillar (200 PW peak power) that will be nuclear physics and X-ray sciences, as well the Hungarian attosecond facility and the developed and realized on the back of the as electron and ion acceleration. A special Romanian facility for nuclear physics. three sites in the Czech Republic (Prague), chapter will be devoted to the application Georg Korn (ELI deputy co-ordinator)

December 2010 l ELI Courier 3 Focus on: soft X-ray lasers ELI looks to become soft X-ray source

the picosecond range. This was due to the With the unique capacity of ELI to combine high repetition rate, high-energy long pulses peculiar pumping geometry, under graz- with ultra-intense ultrashort lasers, outstanding soft X-ray lasers will become reality ing incidence, which has the advantage of saving pump energy but the drawback of creating population inversion in the low- density part of the plasma. The second surprising feature of the controls Wang et al experiment is the output energy 80.0 nm irradiated DNA DNA in vacuum of only 90 nJ, 10 times lower than was 0.0 nm 95,6% 95,6% 95,2% 72,7% achieved by the LOA experiment (1 µJ). 30 µm Based on the novel generation of hydro- 30 µm dynamic codes developed at UPM (Spain), 20 4,3% 20 E Oliva et al demonstrated that most of the 10 pump energy was transferred to plasma 10 kinetic energy and not to population inver- 4,4% 4,4% 4,8% 23% 0 0 sion. Plasma shaping (K Cassou et al) completed by the use of large seeded amplifiers Nanopatterning achieved at PALS with a 21.2 nm soft X-ray laser irradiating Electrophoresis of DNA strands showing the creation of a double break (yellow should theoretically produce truly coher- PMMA. Pattern depth is typically 100 nm with very sharp edges. circle) when irradiated by the 18.6 nm SXRL of the LASERIX facility in France. ent SXRLs emitting pulses of about 200 fs duration and energy around 20–50 µJ. Since the discovery of the laser, research- trons present in the plasma and heated plasma radiography or interferometry, and Such seeded SXRLs should reach intensi- ers have tried to shorten its wavelengths by an infrared laser. The dynamic was holography of rat sperm were tested. Inter- ties of about 1016 W cm–2. More advanced and increase its intensity. Thanks to the launched; saturation of the first SXRL was ferometry was extended by P Zeitoun and studies show the need for elaborate archi- discovery of chirped pulse amplification, achieved in 1991 at RAL in the UK through collaborators to a dynamic study of electri- tecture composed of the seed source and laser intensities followed an impressive a France–UK collaboration. cal breakdown in niobium, and by B Rus et two consecutive plasmas (100 µm and rise over the 25 last years. In parallel, after The main drawback of the collisional al on laser-induced damage of optics. 1 mm wide). Aligning and synchroniz- decades of intensity stagnation, soft X-ray scheme is the need for a multi-kilojoule Excitation of matter covers a wide span ing this SXRL chain is conceivable only sources have finally demonstrated ultra- pump laser, available only in a few labo- of experiments. Among others, we may with high repetition-rate pump lasers. As high intensities in the 1016 W cm–2 range at ratories worldwide. At first, applications cite the study of luminescent materials of a first step, such a SXRL will be installed FLASH (Germany) and up to 1018 W cm–2 demonstrated using these sources were interest for medical detectors or the SXRL at the ELI-beamlines facility and we hope at LCLS (US) using free-electron lasers. unattractive to users due to the extremely break of DNA strands for cancer study at that another will be built at another ELI Thousands of researchers worldwide have low repetition rate of one shot per hour. The the PALS and LASERIX facilities. pillar. The beam parameters will compete shown interest in these soft and hard X-ray first major step towards actual high-repe- It is striking to observe that all of with soft X-ray free-electron lasers, to date lasers, producing a tremendous number of tition rate SXRLs was achieved in France the applications took advantage of the the world’s most intense soft X-ray sources, high-impact discoveries in biology, physics, thanks to a defective laser of “only” 400 J. extremely high number of photons con- Radiography of a a gold target irradiated at 4 × 1013 W cm–2 with the PALS iodine laser attracting hundreds of users. chemistry and astrophysics. If ELI succeeds B Rus and collaborators observed an aston- tained in a single SXRL pulse. This is the (1.315 µm). The laser moved from right to left. The darkest part of the image corresponds to the Although this step is crucial, it does in achieving soft X-ray lasers (SXRLs) with ishingly strong emission at 21.2 nm. The scientific “niche” for SXRL. The world densest zone of the plasma. not represent the ultimate goal. PALS is comparable parameters, it should have a pump laser emitted a train of unwanted record is held by PALS (1015 photons), to currently running the most energetic very fertile future. pre-pulses, creating cold plasma prior to the be compared at the same wavelength of Why aren’t SXRLs coherent? Why don’t far from full coherence. Until a few years SXRL (10 mJ/pulse) but in ASE mode. The For decades, laser-based SXRL domi- arrival of the pump pulse, strongly modify- 21.2 nm with FLASH (1013 photons) and they exhibit a polarized beam? Why is the ago, every SXRL ran in ASE mode (ampli- Czech Republic, hosting the ELI-beam- nated the world of coherent soft X-ray ing the plasma parameters at the locale and high-harmonic generation (HHG) sources pulse duration blocked at 2 ps? The answer fication of spontaneous emission), that is lines facility, would naturally benefit from sources. In the late 1960s researchers instant of population inversion. The second (108–1010 photons). to these questions is in one acronym: ASE. amplification of quantum noise. Thus, ASE the unique knowledge acquired at PALS. proposed using the multi-charged ions major breakthrough was achieved in 1997 This positive view should be tempered The solution is “seeding” and corresponds SXRLs cannot exhibit good coherence or be Therefore, a fascinating goal would be to present in plasmas – because they are by P Nickles and team at MBI (Germany) by a detailed study of experiments that to a modern approach of SXRLs mirroring polarized. seed an amplifier for generating a 100 fs natural intense emitters of X-rays – to who pumped titanium (32.6 nm) with only pointed out some critical problems. Users infrared amplification chains. The solution lies in seeding the plasma pulse with energy exceeding 10 mJ while produce SXRLs. In 1971 Jaeglé and col- a few joules by decoupling the plasma cre- are still waiting for a true laser, i.e. one that Usually in a laser chain the seed is a with an external “perfect” femtosecond maintaining high optical quality of the laborators observed the first super-radiation, which is intrinsically energy con- is coherent in both time and space, with a “pure” wave resulting from bumping the beam, i.e. an HHG beam. In 1995 T Dit- seed. This is precisely the Ditmire et al ance in soft X-rays (10.57 nm), meaning suming, and heating free-electrons, which beam having Gaussian energy distribu- beam back and forth in a cavity called the mire and collaborators tested this with experiment, showing an output beam fully a clear signature of population inversion, can be efficiently achieved at low energy. tion, good wavefront and that is polarized. oscillator. But soft X-ray optics face very mitigated results. It was successfully dem- dominated by ASE on which a weak, poorly in laser-produced plasmas. The physics of Finally, in 2001 S Sebban at LOA (France) Adjustable polarization is highly desirable strong absorption of material. Mirrors onstrated in 2003 at LOA and is now con- amplified seed was superimposed. laser–matter interaction began simulta- achieved the first 10 Hz repetition rate and because polarizers are difficult to manufac- reach at best 67% reflectivity (as opposed sidered worldwide to be the reference The race is on to find the solution for neously with SXRL research, leading to a saturated SXRL. ture at short wavelengths and are highly to up to 99.99% in infrared). Consequently, architecture. LOA achieved the first true transferring most of the stored energy of long period of wholesale developments up In 2003 a conceptually revolutionary absorbing. None of the cited SXRLs answer a fully stable cavity, with 1000 roundtrips, SXRL with full coherence, full (tunable) the seed. Success would be a seeded SXRL to 1985, when the Livermore team in the breakthrough was achieved with the so- these requirements. Experiments at FLASH is hardly realistic. Unstable cavity (three polarization and diffraction-limited wave- of every superlative, with about 10 mJ of US demonstrated the first strong amplifica- called seeding technique. To understand since 2003 have demonstrated unambigu- trips) has been tested at LLNL with mod- front but with a duration of about 1 ps. The energy, 100 fs duration (D Whittacker et tion at 20.6 nm. The consequence was to its real impact, it is worth presenting and ously that the dynamic study of matter at erate success, while half-cavity – consist- duration was limited due to the use of gas, al) and that is diffraction-limited, there- impose its so-called collisional excitation discussing some of the numerous applica- nanometric and femtosecond resolutions ing of only one mirror for re-injecting once a low-density amplifier that is known to fore able to achieve intensities as high as scheme over others. This scheme consists tions achieved so far. We may distinguish is the new paradigm of SXRLs. However, the beam is in the plasma – has led to the have a narrow lasing line. In 2008 Wang 1019 W cm–2. of creating population inversion through two kinds of applications: imaging and until now the shortest laser-based SXRL first saturated SXRL. This solution dem- et al tested a solid amplifier but with the Philippe Zeitoun (LOA), Pedro Velarde the collision of lasing ions with free elec- excitation of matter. In terms of imaging, demonstrated had only a 2 ps duration. onstrated better beam qualities but is still surprising result of a pulse duration also in (UPM) and Bedrich Rus (PALS)

4 December 2010 l ELI Courier December 2010 l ELI Courier 5 Focus on: France ‘Made in France’ lasers top the game Lasers have, since their inven- Left: target ing in laser and its applications, tion 50 years ago, played a very chamber of delivering scientific results of important role for France. It the LMJ. The exceptional quality – includ- is one of the leading countries metallic flanges ing ILE, LULI, LOA, LPGP, LLR, in the knowledge, technology indicate where CELIA, LOB, CPHT, LIXAM and production of high-power, the different and Institut Optique – employ- high-energy lasers, specializ- laser beams ing hundreds of scientists and ing in Ti-sapphire technology. come in. training generations of young It is one of the few European scientists and technicians who countries that has the technol- then spread this knowledge all ogy and the industrial suppliers over the world. to build an entire high-power Right: amplifying Considering France’s invest- laser, including crystals, grat- crystals for the ment in lasers, it is not sur- ings and power amplifiers. APOLLON laser prising that France is giving a In the 1970s, France – and in at ILE. strong contribution to ELI in particular the Commissariat à terms of know-how, technol- l’Energie Atomique (CEA) – put ogy and manpower. The new a lot of effort and investment APOLLON laser (see ELI Cou- into high-power laser technol- rier vol. 2 no. 2), currently ogy. It follows that many laser under construction at ILE, can manufacturers and suppliers the CEA project “Laser Mega (ICF). It should be as power- be considered as a prototype for are based in France. joule” (LMJ), one of the biggest ful as its US counterpart, the ELI and will, when finished, be Today, French companies high-energy laser facilities cur- National Ignition Facility, and the most powerful short-pulse such as Thales, Amplitude, rently under construction, near is the largest ICF experiment to laser in the world. This will fur- Quantel and FastLite are ref- Bordeaux. LMJ is intended to be built outside the US. ther confirm French excellence erence points for high-power deliver about 1.8 MJ of laser There are many laboratories in the field and open up new laser technology. Some of these energy to its targets, to achieve and universities, most of them challenging opportunities for companies are also attracted to inertial confinement fusion near Paris or Bordeaux, work- the scientific community. Interview

Mme Cesarsky is high com- the CEA will certainly continue. matter at femtosecond or even missioner for atomic energy at Over the next few years there attosecond timescales. the Commissariat à l’Energie will be increased activity – the Atomique (CEA). The CEA, with operation of the LMJ from 2014; How do you see the evolution around 15 000 employees and a the growing synergy between of lasers in terms of applica- budget of €4bn, has a long his- fusion science, UHI physics tion and capability for the tory and involvement with lasers. and high-energy physics; and CEA? What could be the next Catherine Cesarsky. She told us about the impor- CEA participation in innovative major advance? tance of lasers for the CEA. They launched nonlinear phys- projects like the Institut de la The start of operations at LMJ ics applications that became Lumière Extrême (ILE) in France and its coupling with PETAL What have been the CEA’s attophysics and ultrahigh-inten- and the pan-European ELI and (a multi-petawatt class CPA major achievements in sity (UHI) physics. HiPER programmes. laser), integrated into the HiPER laser development and its project, will open up new per- applications? What is the role and impor- How will the CEA contribute spectives in several domains, The CEA has greatly contrib- tance of lasers for the CEA? to the future of lasers? such as laboratory astrophys- uted to the increase in energy Lasers are now indispensable The programme of thermonu- ics and of course the production deliverable by lasers, from early tools, allowing the CEA to ful- clear plasma simulations using of energy by inertial confine- small-scale pioneering lasers fill missions ranging from funda- large-scale lasers will con- ment fusion with fast ignition. to the current Laser Mega- mental science and technology, tinue to drive major efforts and Laser technology progresses so joule (LMJ) project. Its laser such as the development of advances, both to increase laser fast! New large-scale ultrashort teams were also among the alternative energies, to defence. performance and to design lasers just appear, which will cre- first to understand the potential highly sophisticated experi- ate accessible new exciting fron- of chirped pulse amplification How do you see the evolution ments. Closely connected with tiers, such as relativistic optics, (CPA) for fundamental science: of lasers at the CEA? this, the CEA will continue to and push ahead our knowledge on several occasions they broke The long history of laser devel- explore the fundamental non- of ultimate matter dynamics. world records for peak power. opment and applications at linear interaction of light with PA

6 December 2010 l ELI Courier Focus on: Portugal IPFN has big plans in store with ELI The Instituto de Plasmas a variety of complex labora-

e Fusão Nuclear (IPFN), a IPFN NI, tory and astrophysical scenar- research unit at the Instituto ios. For that we have combined Superior Técnico (IST), is the the relativistic kinetic theory host for ELI science in Portugal. that provides the theoretical Benefiting from the intellectual framework to describe these and technological efferves- processes and numerical simu- cence of its location at the heart lations capable of capturing the of IST, the biggest engineering kinetic features of plasmas and university in Portugal, IPFN is intense beam–plasma interac- an “associated laboratory”, an tions. In a unique combination elite status established by the in Europe, we are developing in Portuguese National Science parallel the experimental tools Foundation, since 2001. It is that will enable us to bridge also, since 1990, the research the gap between theory and unit of the Contract of Asso- experimentation. ciation between the European Leveraging on the know-how Atomic Energy Community Laboratório de Lasers Intensos at IPFN. at GoLP and IPFN we have also (EURATOM) and IST, and the been exploring the possibility of lead Portuguese contractor of creating a regional infrastruc- the European Fusion Develop- ture, called ELI High Field Com- LP/IPFN,IST ment Agreement (EFDA) and o putational Sciences, capable of , G , the European Joint Undertak- a providing the theoretical and úz i

ing for ITER and the Develop- F F simulation support to explore ment of Fusion Energy (F4E). the frontiers to be unravelled These unique circumstances by ELI. provide a privileged setting for The problems that we address world-class research, foster- today in our team, associated ing scientific and technological with extreme intensities in excellence in an international plasmas, with a combination context. Our global position of plasma theory and massively allows us to act as a central parallel numerical simulations, hub for research, advanced are the breakthroughs that ELI formation and training, tech- will achieve experimentally in nological transfer in plasma the years to come. With our physics and engineering, con- team of experimentalists work- trolled nuclear fusion, lasers ing hands-on in the core busi- and photonics, and advanced A simulation of filamentation in a relativistic laser–plasma interaction. ness of ELI – the lasers of the computing. future, clever plasma sources Under such auspicious begin- growth plan, over the years ity, home to our laser–plasma for more performant plasma nings, the Laser and Plasma we have extended our abili- experiments, and the epp clus- accelerators, and upgraded Group (GoLP) – the group ties to develop a solid reputa- ter, or Extreme Plasma Physics, XUV sources – we will make within IPFN that is specifically tion in experimental physics devoted to advanced computing our dreams come true. involved with ELI – was born and computer simulations, and in laser–plasma interaction. in 1994. Founded by Prof. Tito the scope of our research has In the last few years, GoLP Related websites Mendonça, one of the most broadened to encompass high- has focused its activities on ●● EURATOM: www.euratom. prominent Portuguese physi- power and ultrashort lasers, answering some of the funda- org cists of our time, it started out laser–plasma interaction, com- mental questions in plasmas ●● Fundação para a Ciência e as a small theoretical group plex plasmas, extreme plasma and photonics, associated with a Tecnologia: http://alfa.fct. studying plasma physics, physics, quantum optics and extreme laser or particle beam mctes.pt/index.phtml.pt fusion, nonlinear optics and astrophysics, as well as several intensities, in line with ELI’s ●● GoLP: http://golp.ist.utl.pt dynamic systems. With his other fields. Most importantly, major objectives. ●● IPFN: www.ipfn.ist.utl.pt/ vision – that of a “golpe”, a blow we have equipped our labora- One of our current goals is to portal# to stir the waters in Portuguese tory with two major infrastruc- be a key player in the X-Games ●● IST: www.ist.utl.pt research – Mendonça managed tures that are the focus of our of Contemporary Science: to attract a group of highly two major axes of research: high-energy density science. Marta Fajardo (Instituto de motivated young scientists. L2I, or Laboratório de Lasers We aim to understand mat- Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear Following a consistent Intensos, a 10 TW laser facil- ter at extreme intensities, in Instituto Superior Técnico)

December 2010 l ELI Courier 7 News and events Progress at ELI Where east meets west ELI-Beamlines On 16–18 February 2011 ann

Facility h o

the High-Intensity Lasers j The European Commission is and High-Field Phenomena il r G r performing a thorough review (HILAS) topical meeting will ietma

of the funding application and be held in Istanbul, Turkey, for D has expressed satisfaction the first time. with respect to the quality of The meeting, organized by the materials. Final approval the Optical Society (OSA), spe- is expected from Brussels cializes in both fundamen- soon, with a signature on the tal science and applications of grant agreement by the end high-field phenomena, as well of the year. In the meantime, as technical aspects related to on 23 September, the building source development. permit was secured. A detailed In addition to several invited technical and cost review of presentations, there will be the building is under way, with speeches about: high-peak- the objective of starting con- power lasers and high-inten- The Ottoman Neo-Baroque style Ortaköy Mosque in Istanbul. struction mid-2011. sity laser–matter interactions; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence. recent progress in terawatt and ELI-Attosecond petawatt lasers; laser technol- ence; high harmonic genera- with three other OSA top- Facility ogy for fusion- and laser-based tion, high-field rescattering ical meetings: Advanced The scientific case of ELI-ALPS EUV and X-ray sources; strong- physics; relativistic nonlinear Solid-State Photonics (ASSP), has been completed. Fol- field laser science including phenomena; plasmas in ultra Advances in Optical Materials lowing recommendation, the interactions with atoms, mol- high fields; and laser-based (AIOM) and Fibre Laser Appli- repetition rate of the primary ecules, clusters and plasmas; particle acceleration. cations (FILAS). sources has been increased in advances in attosecond sci- HILAS will be co-located Sandro De Silvestri comparison with early plans. The scientific case will be synergies in the development of tors, and data management discussed with international Synergies components common to several and dissemination. Several of experts and reviewed by the At the end of July, the Euro- infrastructures and thus opti- our beneficiaries set up syn- ELI Scientific Advisory Com- pean Commission published a mize resources. ergies with other infrastruc- mittee. Design of the building call related to the implemen- ELI is participating in this tures, such as X-FEL, EuroFEL, has been started. The signa- tation of common solutions in call, called “CRISP” and co- FAIR, SPIRAL-2 and ESFR. ture ceremony of the contract infrastructures on the ESFRI ordinated by ESRF, in all work- This confirms ELI’s broad scien- for the Hungarian prepara- roadmap in the fields of phys- packages. This includes the tific activity in different cross- tory project continues to be ics, astronomy and analytics. topics of accelerator compo- linked research topics. delayed by the National Devel- The basic idea is to generate nents, instrumentation, detec- PA opment Agency.

ELI-Nuclear Physics Facility ELI gets real from here Romania is now just wait- 10 December 2010 was an aries (Czech Republic, Roma- ing for the official green light important milestone in the nia and Hungary) presented before starting construction. history of ELI. In a dedicated the mission, organization and ELI GETTING People are submitting propos- event – “ELI getting real: from work plan of the newly formed als for new directions of inves- inception to implementation” ELI Delivery Consortium. tigation that can be followed – hosted by the Czech Embassy Toshiki Tajima, chairman REAL when ELI-NP becomes opera- in Paris, the ELI Delivery Con- of the ELI Scientific Advisory From Inception to tional. While ELI Delivery Con- sortium officially took the lead Committee, concluded the sem- Implementation sortium activities are ramping of the project from ELI Prepar- inar by giving a lecture with up, huge thanks are due to all atory Phase (ELI-PP), thereby the title “Extreme Light Infra- those who made it possible to announcing the imminent structure: Icebreaker and inte- reach this point. Without the launch of ELI’s implementation. grator of 21st century science”. team who led us through ELI- In an afternoon seminar, key An evening reception held in PP, we couldn’t contemplate players of ELI-PP highlighted the salons of the embassy was a today the shores of unknown the major achievements accom- festive complement to the after- future scientific frontiers. plished over the past three noon conference and an occa- years. The three plenipotenti- sion to wish good luck to ELI. Catherine Sarrazin

8 December 2010 l ELI Courier