discovered_01_2016 - Editorial

WWW.HZDR.DE discovered 01.16 EDITORIAL COVER ILLUSTRATION: Experimental chamber at the high-power laser DRACO. Photo: Jürgen Lösel DEAR READERS, The basic idea behind the light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation = laser goes back to Albert Einstein and, as such, is nearly a hundred years old. The precursor of the laser was the maser – the acronym stands for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation – and it was implemented by Charles H. Townes in the year  1954. Together with Nicolay G. Basov and Alexandr M. Prokhorov, the US- American physicist won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for fundamental work in the field of stimulated emission. The first functional laser was the ruby laser, built by the US-American physicist Theodore Maiman in 1960. We have the laser to thank for many groundbreaking developments and fascinating discoveries. This current edition of our research magazine "discovered" is not, however, looking to present the vast field of laser technology in its entirety. Rather, we want to introduce you to the lasers in our own Helmholtz Center. Its name is DRACO – Dresden Laser Acceleration Source – and it has just emerged from an elaborate re-tuning. If this short-pulse laser with an output of a good 100 terawatts was already one of the strongest in Europe, its output of one petawatt – that is, a quadrillion watts – has now catapulted it into the international vanguard. But what is this laser power needed for? Readers, who are familiar with HZDR, already know the answer: the power of high-intensity beams can be harnessed to accelerate particles. In the articles "Lasers as Particle Turbos" and "Plasma Flash in the Supercomputer" you can discover more about the state of the art in research and the possible applications for this new accelerator technology. The two free-electron lasers in HZDR’s ELBE Center for High- Power Radiation Sources are also a special type of laser. Here it is electrons that are the active medium while the electron accelerator acts as the pumping mechanism (the illustration on p. 9 demonstrates how a laser functions). In close cooperation with TU Dresden it has been possible to build a so-called near-field microscope at our free-electron laser. This facilitates unique insights into nano worlds at the lowest temperatures. As always, in the section on "Research", we offer you a potpourri of topics: from the first clinical trials involving a slit camera for high-precision proton therapy, via a type of detector that is tracking down Dark Matter in the underground lab at Gran Sasso in Italy, to heat transfer during boiling and condensation – and linked up with this are issues on safety in nuclear facilities and increasing the efficiency of energy production and cooling systems. I look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions and hope you enjoy reading this edition of "discovered". Christine Bohnet Communications and Media Relations Department at HZDR

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