Central Laser Facility

Are you a student? Thinking about how to discover your passions, gain valuable experience and kick start your career during or after your studies? This year's positions for Industrial and Graduate placements are currently being rolled out! Find your placement today ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ej9jvYvw

We are seeking a talented and dedicated physics graduate with a keen interest in Laser technology to join our team at the CLF and contribute to this groundbreaking project. The successful candidate will play a critical role in the development and optimisation of the high-intensity beamline, working on design evaluation, simulation, and construction of optical hardware, as well as software development for a Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) system. Lasers are the backbone and the workhorse of scientific and technological development worldwide. In 2023, the CLF was awarded a significant project to build the world's most powerful laser, the Vulcan 20-20, capable of achieving 20 petawatts. This project represents the pinnacle of high technology. STFC is an award winning employer and RAL is a superb place to work – there is pioneering work going on all around the site and the environment, facilities and conditions are excellent. RAL has a real buzz and the people working here have a profound sense of pride in what they achieve. Alongside an excellent working environment and comprehensive continued professional development STFC offer’s a benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, Christmas shut down, flexible working hours, a workplace nursery, an exceptional career average defined benefit pension scheme, and social and sporting activities and societies. Full details can be found on STFC’s careers pages.

Electron-position pair plasmas are a special type of plasma which are intrinsically symmetrical, making their properties and physics unique. Often found within and around some of the most energetic objects in the universe such as black holes and neutron stars, understanding these plasmas can reveal valuable knowledge on the physics of extreme environments, fundamental plasma physics and more. Given their unreachable distance, laboratory replication of this plasma is crucial if we want to deepen our understanding of it through direct testing. Due to the difficulty faced in generating sufficient positrons to form part of the electron-positron pair plasmas, many scientists have tried and failed to replicate these plasmas over the years. In their research paper published in Nature Communications on the 12th of June 2024, a team of researchers from various institutions, including three from the Central Laser Facility, finally succeeded in generating sufficient levels of electron-positron pair plasmas by using a novel technique on CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron. Read more about this breakthrough here ➡ https://lnkd.in/e7G2gtfg (Image credit: University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics illustration / Heather Palmer)   

Colloidal and interfacial research is an interdisciplinary branch of science that studies the interaction between different particles and surfaces. Thus far, most research into interactions involving oil droplets in aqueous environments have studied larger oil droplets (around 20-200 µm in diameter) using the atomic force microscope. However, many industrial procedures such as textile cleaning and fabric coating involve the wetting of different fibres by smaller oil droplets (<10µm), a process that has not yet been well-investigated. In a recent paper published in Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, a team of researchers from the University of Birmingham endeavoured to study the wetting behaviour of smaller oil droplets on cotton and polyester fibres. Their research utilised the highly precise Optical Tweezer instrument provided by the Central Laser Facility, which has several advantages over the atomic microscope and therefore allowed them to quantify the oil-fibre interaction forces more efficiently and thoroughly. Read more about their experiment here ➡ https://lnkd.in/eG659e2A

Spatial Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) - a technique developed originally at CLF - has been used to detect fake honey without opening the jar. New research projects funded by STFC and led by researchers from Cranfield University have utilised SORS to develop fresh ways to detect sugar syrup adulteration in honey, paving the way for fast and accurate tests to discover fake products in a market worth many millions of pounds. It can be very difficult and complex to detect adulterated honey products, more so because honey's characteristics vary immensely due to sources of nectar, season of harvest and geography. Existing authentication methods have been costly and time consuming, and there is a growing appetite for reliable testing and the adoption of new rules to try and combat fraud. Now scientists at Cranfield University have successfully tested two new methods to authenticate UK honey quickly and accurately thanks to support from STFC Food Network+ (SFN)'s research programme. Read the full article ➡️https://lnkd.in/eQWF39c5

Amazing video featuring the CLF's own Robbie Scott!

Come and discover the kind of impact you can make when you work with some of the best facilities and brightest scientists in the world. The CLF has recently secured funding for an ambitious £82M upgrade to the Vulcan facility (termed Vulcan 20-20) to increase its power to 20 PW, and its energy to 20 kJ. It will be the highest power laser in the world. We are looking for a wide range of scientists and engineers with excellent technical skills to help design, build and deliver Vulcan 20-20. About the Role: You could join the Vulcan 20-20 team and focus on the optical beam delivery throughout the upgraded Vulcan 20-20 facility. You will design and develop the optical systems required for the propagation of large optical beams from the laser to the experimental rooms. About the CLF: As part of the Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC), the CLF contains many state-of-the-art laser systems and experimental stations, along with expert scientists, engineers and technicians that work with academic and industry users to deliver science across a broad range of fields. The CLF has around 200 staff and it is a very friendly, outgoing, externally facing sort of place. It has a welcoming and inclusive culture, and you will find that people will naturally help and support you. Apply today ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e2JQZegZ #DiscoverWhatsPossible #LifeAtUKRI #JobsatUKRI

An exciting opportunity exists to join the Central Laser Facility (CLF), at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, to work in a new project called Vulcan 20-20. The Vulcan high power laser facility sits at the heart of the CLF, and for decades has been internationally recognised as a globally leading laser facility, providing access for UK and international researchers working on a wide range of topics in high energy density and plasma science. You could join the Vulcan 20-20 team and have a leading role in the development of the target technology and systems required to field complex experiments on the new facility. In this role, you will engage with user groups, similar facilities and work with the engineering teams to ensure that the targetry work package deliverables are met. You will work as part of the target fabrication group and will also ensure that robust, traceable and continuously improving processes are implemented to support future Vulcan 20-20 operations. Apply today ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eh7JqPUG #DiscoverWhatsPossible #LifeAtUKRI #JobsatUKRI

Learn about the role of photon emissions in plant development  in Megan Pritchard's article from her #placement as a science communicator at Central Laser Facility 👉 https://lnkd.in/egRxjhB7 Read more about Megan's placement experience 👉 https://lnkd.in/emyYQf9t

We’ve been busy with University of Aberdeen, Universitat d'Alacant and STFC Business & Innovation’s I-TAC, creating beautiful golden coated (<50nms thick!) prisms to be used in an experiment on #electrochemistry ⚡️ Using these gold coated prisms, some water and a laser (of course!), the team observed the dynamics of water by measuring simultaneously the change in the potential of the gold film and the changes in the spectrum of interfacial water provoked by heating the interface with a laser pulse.   This research may help pave the way towards further studies of catalysis and energy storage 🌱🔋 #LifeAtUKRI