LASER SINCROTRONE TRIESTE R&D

The project consists of the study and construction of a source of coherent X-rays, with wavelengths reaching 10 nm. It will be located at ELETTRA and will complement the laboratory’s existing equipment, a large electron-accelerating synchrotron. The main components are of the latest technology, some applying new scientific know-how just reaching manufacturing, and will be implemented by a promoter with long-standing and worldwide recognised experience in the field.

As the pressure on the European research system continues to increase because of the increasing numbers of disciplines and types of infrastructures required and of potential partners involved (private sector, candidate countries) and Member States face budgetary restrictions, there is a Union-wide need for coordination of research efforts. For these very reasons, the project was included as one of the priority projects of the ‘Quick Start Programme’ under the Growth Initiative approved by the EU Council in December 2003. Free Electron Lasers (FEL) are high power lasers which generate tunable, coherent, high power radiation, currently spanning wavelengths from millimetre to visible and ultraviolet, with the potential to reach the region of hard X-rays, thus providing radiation energy in wide ranges of wavelengths where no other coherent “light” sources exists. Whereas in conventional lasers the coherent radiation results from the stimulated emission of excited atoms, in FELs it is emitted by independent energetic electrons constructively interacting with magnetic fields and other radiation. This allows advanced scientific and industrial research in structural biology, magnetic materials and nanotechnologies. The range of applications of the FEL at ELETTRA attracts researchers from universities and laboratories from all over Europe, as well as national and foreign scientific institutions for joint programmes in basic and applied research.

Owing to its technical characteristics, the project falls outside both Annex 1 and 2 of Directive 97/11/EC. It will be located on an existing site for scientific and industrial research, beside a large synchrotron and its experimental areas. During operation, possible interactions between energetic electron beams and the structural material produce sources of ionising radiation, localised in the equipment, with no outside release of active material. Biological shields, controlled access plans and other safety and monitoring systems are foreseen to seclude and control active zones and protect the persons concerned.

The promoter will follow the procurement directives relevant to the public sector.