The International Conference on Scientific Opportunities with Advanced Attosecond Lasers (SOAL) took place from 2–6 July in Dongguan, China. Scientists from all over the world were invited to present latest research, ranging from attosecond light sources and femtosecond lasers over free-electron lasers, ultrafast reaction dynamics, THz spectroscopy and photonics to high-harmonic generation and coherent electron or x-ray imaging and spectroscopy.
Just recently, in Dongguan the building phase for a new Center for Attosecond Research started. Similar to other large-scale facilities worldwide, the new center will provide the infrastructure for advanced attosecond and ultrafast experiments to international users. One of the aims of the conference was to explore possible approaches and applications for the development of the facility.
Alexander Weigel, group leader of attoworld’s Field-resolved Infrared Spectroscopy Team, gave an invited presentation on the generation of Ultrastable single-cycle infrared pulses from Cr:ZnS oscillators. Such pulses form the basis for our latest instruments for field-resolved infrared molecular fingerprinting of blood samples with the goal of future applications in health monitoring and disease detection. In addition, the single-cycle pulses from our Cr:ZnS oscillators provide a new tools for controlling electron motion with orders of magnitude higher speed than today´s most advanced electronics, and may – in combination with suitable amplification schemes – also have in future applications in high-field experiments.
The SOAL conference is organized bi-annually. At its next occurrence in 2026, the participants can hopefully already witness the new Center for Attosecond Research in an advanced development state.
