During the IUPAP ICUIL 2024 Conference on the Island of Cozumel in Mexico, the Yoshiaki Kato Award was awarded for the first time. This honour was bestowed on Professor Ulrich Schramm from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, Germany. Ulrich Schramm received this award for his ground breaking scientific achievements in laser particle acceleration and its applications.
Ulrich Schramm’s group in collaboration with M.E. Couprie’s team from Synchrotron SOLEIL in France were the first to demonstrate a seeded Free Electron Laser (FEL) driven by a laser wakefield electron accelerator. His group’s very successful work on laser ion acceleration leading to world record proton energies has culminated in a first demonstration of treated cancer in an animal model with laser-accelerated protons of high pulse dose rate. This experiment required a laser proton accelerator and transport system with unprecedented reliability to meet the radiation biology requirements of the medical community. These ambitious and innovative experiments relied on the persistent and combined improvement of drive laser and plasma accelerator performance in Ulrich Schramm’s group over the last decade.
With these achievements, Ulrich Schramm and his team have paved the way to novel smaller scale FELs and innovative new approaches to radiation biology and potential future therapy of cancer.
On behalf of the committee and as Chairman of the International Committee on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers (ICUIL), I submit this report of ICUIL-related activities and events over the past 13 months to IUPAP. Obviously the biggest news in this time period has been the global Covid-19 pandemic. While the ICUIL is happy to report that we are not aware of any illness effecting directly the members of its committee, the pandemic has certainly effected the operations and activities of the committee. The late summer of the even number years is the general meeting time of the International Conference on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers which is sponsored and organized by ICUIL (the committee). ICUIL 2020 was scheduled to be held on Jeju Island in South Korea. The host organization for the meeting was to be the Guangju Institute of Science and Technology which is the home of one of the premier ultrahigh intensity laser facilities in the world today. In early spring the organizing committee decided to postpone the meeting and move the dates from early September 2020 to June of 2021.
The International Committee on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers (www.icuil.org) was formed in 2004 as Working Group 7 of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. ICUIL aims
- To provide a venue for discussions among representatives of high-intensity laser facilities and members of user communities, on international collaborative activities such as the development of the next generation of ultrahigh intensity lasers, exploration of new areas of fundamental and applied research, and formation of a global research network for access to advanced facilities by users
On behalf of the committee and as Chairman of the International Committee on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers (ICUIL), I submit this report of ICUIL-related activities and events over the past 10 months to IUPAP. Obviously the biggest news in this time period is the most recent. On October 2, Professor Gerard Mourou, who was ICUIL’s first chairman from 2004 to 2008, and Professor Donna Strickland were awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the chirped pulse amplification concept upon which nearly all of today’s ~$5B worth of ultrahigh laser activities are based. Below are photos from the awards ceremony in Stockholm. As mentioned in previous reports, Professor Mourou was the ICUIL’s first chairman and served in this role from 2004 to 2008.
On behalf of the committee and as Chairman of the International Committee on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers (ICUIL), I submit this report of ICUIL-related activities and events over the past 6 months to IUPAP. Obviously the biggest news in this time period is the most recent. On October 2, Professor Gerard Mourou, who was ICUIL’s first chairman from 2004 to 2008, and Professor Donna Strickland were awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the chirped pulse amplification concept upon which nearly all of today’s ~$5B worth of ultrahigh laser activities are based. This is a banner event for the community and for the ICUIL committee in particular. Below is the photograph from the kick off meeting for the ICUIL which was held in Great Britain in 2004. Gerard is at the center of this picture. The committee will be planning several events to celebrate this achievement over the coming year.
On behalf of the committee and as Chairman of the International Committee on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers (ICUIL), I submit this report of ICUIL-related activities and events over the past 6 months to IUPAP.
The International Committee on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers (ICUIL) was established in 2004 as an IUPAP working group devoted to the promotion and outreach of ultrahigh intensity laser capabilities around the world. By the committee’s estimate there are approximately $5B of world wide projects and facilities today devoted to the creation and use of ultrahigh intensity laser capabilities.
ICUIL Activity Overview
ICUIL continues to promote the advancement of the international field of ultra-high intensity lasers. Our goals are to provide a venue for discussions, among representatives of high-intensity laser facilities and members of user communities on a variety of subjects including; international collaborations to define and develop the next generation of ultra-high intensity laser capabilities, exploration of new areas of fundamental and applied research and formation of a global research network for access to facilities by users. This report to IUPAP highlights progress made by members of the ICUIL community over the last year.