Fast-moving processes in the microcosm: From curiosity to fighting cancer
ow incredibly short are attoseconds? And how can such ultrashort laser pulses enable innovative approaches, both now in the field of basic research and in the future in practical applications in the field of medical diagnostics? Prof. Ferenc Krausz, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Chair of Experimental Physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, explores these questions in his online lecture, which can be viewed here, given on the occasion of the anniversary event "10 Years PhotonLab" on July 23, 2021.
We are all
familiar with them from sports competitions in which speed is at stake: the
measurements of hundredths and thousandths of a second. Attoseconds, derived
from the Danish word "atten", which corresponds to the number
"eighteen", are a completely different matter with their time
interval of 10-18 seconds. An attosecond is thus the billionth of a
billionth of a second. That can be imagined hardly more, because in the range
of the attoseconds the duration of a second corresponds to the age of our
universe!
What is
used in basic physics research to detect the electron movements within an atom
that are not fixed on orbits with attosecond laser light pulses could in the
future lead to the generation of a so-called individual "molecular
fingerprint" of a person from blood samples in an innovative analysis
procedure by means of this laser-based technology in practical applications. By
comparing possible changes in the blood samples examined over time, it is hoped
that an early diagnostic procedure could soon be designed that could detect
even minimal changes in the molecular structure. This would make it possible to
initiate therapeutic approaches at the earliest possible stage, even before the
disease becomes symptomatic. Prof. Ferenc Krausz explains how this can work in
a clear and generally understandable way in his lecture in German, which can be
accessed here.
Welcome to Photonworld – a platform for knowledge, interesting facts and science on the topic of light. Photonworld aims to provide a basic understanding of the physics of light and its countless phenomena. From medicine, to art and physics: all topics are covered.
Photonworld originated as an initiative of the excellence cluster the Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP) and the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics (LAP) at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ).
The initiator of the project is Prof. Dr. Ferenc Krausz, Chair of Experimental Physics at the LMU and Director of the MPQ.
Photonworld’s Student Zone reports directly out of the PhotonLab, which is supported by the Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) and the DFG Research Unit FOR 2783. At the PhotonLab, schoolteachers and students can find up-to-date information about experiments and goings-on at the lab, and plan their own visit to the laboratory.
