ELI-Alps Laser Facility
ELI-Alps (Attosecond Light Pulse Source), close to Szeged in Hungary, is one of three Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) sites. The ELI project involves construction of laser facilities as part of the European plan to build a new generation of major research centres selected by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).
ELI, which will initially be based at three specialised and complementary facilities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania, will be the world’s first international laser research infrastructure project, pursuing unique science and research applications for international users. The project involves 40 research institutions from 13 countries.
Research at ELI-Alps will focus mainly on Attosecond Light Pulses, high-frequency laser pulses in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray ranges with a pulse duration in the range of attoseconds (thousandths of a femtosecond) and with repetition rates between 10 hertz and 100 kilohertz. The ultrashort pulses allow snapshots to be taken of extremely fast processes in atoms, molecules, plasmas, and solids.
Construction of ELI-Alps started in April 2014. HeidelbergCement’s joint venture Duna-Dráva Cement delivered 18,000 m3 of high-strength concretes (C25/30 and C30/37) for the project. Walls and ceilings of the laser halls measure 1 to 2 meters and feature special radiation protection. A vibration-free basement ensures laser stability.
The research complex has a total size of 24,462 m2 and consists of five buildings with different facilities and purposes. The maximum building height is 20 meters.
Several factors made the construction of ELI-Alps a great challenge. One of these factors was the time constraint, as only a little more than two years were allotted to finish building, and no one had ever designed a facility of similar size or nature. Natural site characteristics did not make the situation any easier: the soil of the building area contained an approximately 40-meter deep layer of unusable clay.
But the project has nonetheless gone according to plan, so that research programmes are set to commence in the second half of 2018.
