The CLF Annual Report 2023-24 provides a snapshot of some of the scientific and technical research that has been carried out by users of the CLF and its staff between April 2023 and April 2024. Hard copies are available on request: please contact us if you wish to receive a printed version of this CLF Annual Report or to ask to be added to our Mailing List for future Reports.
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Foreword (PDF – 729 KB)
Overview (PDF – 520 KB)
Industrial engagement and innovation (PDF – 490 KB)
Communication and outreach activity in the CLF (PDF – 2,138 KB)
Introducing the Harwell Heritage Project (PDF – 1,224 KB)
The main part of this annual report contains a selection of abstracts that offer an insight into some of the scientific and technical research that has been carried out by users of the CLF and its staff this year. The layout of the report has been designed to improve accessibility, and uses a larger font size than in earlier years. Consequently, we cannot include the details of institutes with the author names on these abstracts, but there is a full Author Index that includes these details. Where possible, we also provide links to published papers in the list below, and these papers will contain author institute details.
Where available, associated full articles are available to download or view below. All PDF documents open in a new tab.
High Energy Density & High Intensity Physics (synopsis of each article) (PDF – 2,937 KB)
1. Low divergence electron beams from a gas cell (01_Backhouse1_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 644 KB)
2. Beam driven electron acceleration to 4 GeV at Gemini (02_Backhouse2_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 864 KB)
3. Plasma mirror operation at high intensity: reflectivity and beam profile (03_Hills1_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 1,257 KB)
4. Wakefield accelerator driven to ionisation injection using a laser reflected off a plasma mirror at high intensities (04_Hills2_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 3,453 KB)
5. All-optical GeV electron bunch generation in a laser-plasma accelerator via truncated-channel injection (Link to published paper)
6. Measurement of the decay of laser-driven linear plasma wakefields (Link to published paper)
7. CFD modelling of gas cell target for laser wakefield accelerators (07_Luo_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 495 KB)
8. Cellular response to femtosecond-scale radiation at dose-rates exceeding 1013 Gy/s (08_Maguire_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 3,316 KB)
9. Monte Carlo modelling of the Breit-Wheeler process within the GEANT4 framework (Link to published paper)
10. Narrow bandwidth, low emittance positron beams from a laser-wakefield accelerator (Link to published paper)
11. Measurement of magnetic cavitation driven by heat flow in a plasma (Link to published paper)
12. Proton beam divergence measurements from radiation pressure driven shock acceleration (12_Casati_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 1,698 KB)
13. Optimizing laser coupling, matter heating, and particle acceleration from solids using multiplexed ultra-intense lasers (Link to published paper)
Laser Science & Development (synopsis of each article) (PDF – 3,810 KB)
14. Improved stability second harmonic conversion of a diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser at the 0.5 kW level (Link to published paper)
15. High energy, high pulse rate laser operation using crystalline adhesive-free bonded Yb:YAG slabs (Link to published paper)
16. Demonstration of stable, long-term operation of a nanosecond pulsed DPSSL at 10 J, 100 Hz (Link to published paper)
17. Progress on laser development at the Extreme Photonics Applications Centre (Link to conference presentation)
18. Design of a high energy Ti:Sapphire amplifier for the Extreme Photonics Applications Centre (18_Mason2_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 220 KB)
19. Modelling the energetics of a potential new-look 10 Hz, 100 J class DiPOLE amplifier (Link to conference presentation)
20. Kilowatt-class high-energy frequency conversion to 95 J at 10 Hz at 515 nm (Link to published paper)
21. Pathway for experiments for a DiPOLE D100-X 100 J amplifier synchronised to the European XFEL (Link to conference presentation)
22. Overview of optical characterisation capabilities for assessing suitability of optics for high-energy, high repetition rate lasers (22_Quinn_Poster_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 2,227 KB)
23. Pump laser for the EPAC petawatt amplifier (Link to conference presentation)
24. Design of an electron energy spectrometer and energy selector for laser-plasma driven beams at EPAC (Link to published paper)
25. The EPAC electron transport beamline – physics considerations and design (Link to published paper)
26. Upgrade to the Astra amplifier 3 optical pumping scheme (26_FariaPinto_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 309 KB)
27. Neutral gas interferometry in Gemini TA1 (27_Finlay1_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 2,873 KB)
28. Development of an optical probe for a laser wakefield accelerator in Gemini Target Area 2 (28_Finlay2_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 2,578 KB)
29. Software developments in Gemini (29_Marshall_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 199 KB)
30. Control systems and data management for high-power laser facilities (Link to published paper)
31. Super-resolution radial fluctuations microscopy for optimal resolution and fidelity (31_Wang1_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 300 KB)
32. Drift-free single molecule localization microscopy provides artefact-free super-resolution imaging (32_Wang2_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 3,810 KB)
33. Characterisation of tape-drive targets using X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (33_Fields_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 359 KB)
34. Developments of experimental target platforms for Rayleigh-Taylor and jetting experiments at LLE (34_Robinson_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 415 KB)
35. A stop-flow sample delivery system for TRMPS experiments (35_Dragomir_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 7,422 KB)
36. Multi-amplifier laser system for time-resolved spectroscopy at HiLUX-Ultra (36_Greetham_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 306 KB)
Theory & Computation (synopsis of each article) (PDF – 519 KB)
37. Laser harmonic generation with independent control of frequency and orbital angular momentum (Link to published paper)
Plasma Diagnostics (synopsis of each article) (PDF – 1,270 KB)
38. An active ion spectrometer for laser-driven ion beams (38_Cook_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 588 KB)
39. Implementation of an optical probe with anamorphic imaging in Gemini TA3 (39_Finlay_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 536 KB)
40. A high-angular-coverage optical diagnostic to measure scattered light directionality on Vulcan Target Area West (40_Glize_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 7,952 KB)
Imaging & Dynamics for Physical & Life Sciences (synopsis of each article) (PDF – 3,556 KB)
41. Ultrafast carrier dynamics throughout the three-dimensional Brillouin zone of the Weyl semimetal PtBi2 (Link to published paper)
42. Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy study of halothiophene photochemistry (42_Minns_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 317 KB)
43. Ultrafast dynamics in the 1,2-dichloroethenes (Link to published paper)
44. Ring-opening dynamics of a cyclic disulfide captured by time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging (Link to published paper)
45. Compositional evolution of individual CoNPs on Co/TiO2 during CO and syngas treatment resolved through soft XAS/X-PEEM (Link to published paper)
46. The use of NADH anisotropy to investigate mitochondrial cristae alignment (Link to published paper)
47. Ultra-small air-stable triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion nanoparticles for anti-Stokes time-resolved imaging (Link to published paper)
48. Rooting out ultraweak photon emission a-mung bean sprouts (Link to published paper)
49. Drug-resistant EGFR mutations promote lung cancer by stabilizing interfaces in ligand-free kinase-active EGFR oligomers (Link to published paper)
50. Molecular self-organisation in surfactant atmospheric aerosol proxies (Link to published paper)
51. Autophagy receptor NDP52 alters DNA conformation to modulate RNA polymerase II transcription (Link to published paper)
52. Methanol-to-olefins studied by UV Raman spectroscopy as compared to visible wavelength: Capitalization on resonance enhancement (Link to published paper)
53. Potential dependent reorientation controlling activity of a molecular electrocatalyst (Link to published paper)
54. Ultrafast spectroscopy at the Central Laser Facility: Applications to the study of commercially relevant materials (Link to published review)
55. The 2D-IR spectrum of hydrogen-bonded silanol groups in pyrogenic silica (Link to published paper)
56. Breaking barriers in ultrafast spectroscopy and imaging using 100 kHz amplified Yb-laser systems (Link to published paper)
57. Unravelling the ultrafast photochemical dynamics of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution (Link to published paper)
58. Background correction of time-resolved infrared spectroscopy data for the 'tricky' transcriptional regulator protein, B12-dependent CarH (58_Hay_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 682 KB)
59. Progress in the 2D-IR characterisation of hydrogenases at Ultra (59_Horch_CLF AR 23-24.pdf – 224 KB)
60. Using 2D-IR spectroscopy to measure the structure, dynamics, and intermolecular interactions of proteins in H2O (Link to published paper)
61. The importance of understanding (pre)catalyst activation in versatile C–H bond functionalisations catalysed by [Mn2(CO)10] (Link to published paper)
62. Nile Red fluorescence: Where's the twist? (Link to published paper)
Operational Statistics (PDF – 886 KB)
Publications and Theses (PDF – 580 KB)
Panel membership (PDF – 301 KB)
CLF Structure (PDF – 571 KB)
Contribution author index (PDF – 311 KB)
