In the past few decades, the fields of nonlinear and quantum optics at visible and infrared wavelengths have grown rapidly. Nonlinear optical techniques have been applied to many diverse disciplines ranging from atomic, molecular, and solid state physics and materials science, to chemical dynamics, biophysics, medicine, and even neuro-science, where brain activity is studied through two-photon microscopy. The field of quantum optics has provided important insights into numerous quantum phenomena, and the demonstration of effects such as entanglement and squeezed light has led to the observations of remarkable results.However, ordinary nonlinear optics processes, taken into the x-ray regime, are known to be very weak, while available x-ray sources suffer from insufficient brightness. Recent and expected improvements in brightness and beam quality of x-ray sources, together with new facilities such as the x-ray free-electron laser (FEL), do offer the possibility of extending the concepts of nonlinear and quantum optics into x-ray energies. The new facilities with their increased power allow the observation of new x-ray nonlinear and quantum effects.
Our group uses these advanced technologies to study new effects at x-ray wavelengths.
A major part of our research is aimed at fundamental science with the focus on the demonstration and study novel nonlinear and quantum processes at x-ray wavelengths. This is a new system offering possibilities of better for testing of universal concepts of quantum and nonlinear physics.
Grenoble, France, ESRF.
Japan: SPring8 synchrotron and SACLA XFEL.
Another significant portion of our research is aimed at the development of new imaging and inspection techniques based on quantum and nonlinear phenomena. It is expected that these techniques will offer the ability to image and inspect phenomena and small objects on the atomic scale resolution.