Executive summary
Lasers producing ultrashort pulses from the picosecond (10-12 s) to the attosecond (10-18 s) time scale are developing very quickly. The ability to produce ever-shorter and more powerful laser pulses in ever-broader ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum has opened up the possibility of studying ever more complex systems in ever greater detail. The shorter time scales enable complex processes in many areas of science to be decomposed into sequences of elementary steps that are easier to describe and understand. The development of ultrashort pulses ranging from the terahertz to the x-ray range enables unprecedented selectivities and sensitivities. The increasing intensities available for such pulses allow scientists to turn measurement into control and to manipulate almost any degree of freedom on an ultrashort time scale. These developments have caused a rapid proliferation of ultrafast science into spectroscopy, structural imaging and material processing. They have also driven a wide range of new applications, both in science and in technology, and will continue to do so.
These new opportunities come with a rapid increase in the cost and complexity of the required laser infrastructure. While the professors at ETH Zurich have so far successfully acquired and operated their own ultrafast laser systems, the qualitative and quantitative limitations in laboratory space and funding will challenge their competitiveness in a foreseeable future. Moreover, access to ultrafast laser technology is always associated with a substantial investment into running costs for maintenance and related scientific/technical personnel, which prevents many research groups from beneficial applications. The goal of FastLab is to address these challenges.
In its initial implementation, this platform already offers synchronized ultrafast laser sources covering the wavelength range from terahertz to the extreme ultraviolet. FastLab starts operation with a single laser system that is shared by a collaboration of five research groups. In the long term, FastLab is planned to grow in order to even better meet the demand of the collaboration and serve more interested groups at ETH Zurich.