Polytechnique insights A REVIEW BY INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE PARIS
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π Science and technology

Lasers: promising applications for research and beyond

5 episodes
  • 1
    Detecting life on other planets with lasers
  • 2
    How to achieve deeper treatment of tumours with laser-plasma acceleration
  • 3
    Using X-rays to test materials without damaging them
  • 4
    Lightning rods and antennas: applications of laser filamentation
  • 5
    The Lightning Rod project: a laser beam to control lightning
Starry sky view into the space, milky way, bright stars created
Épisode 1/5

Detecting life on other planets with lasers
On May 31st, 2023
4 min reading time
AREVALO_Ricardo
Ricardo Arévalo
Associate Professor at the University of Maryland

Key takeaways

  • A prototype miniaturised instrument could identify organic molecules that could indicate the presence of extra-terrestrial life.
  • The instrument combines the Orbitrap analyser, a spectrometer invented in the 1990s, with laser desorption mass spectrometry (LDMS).
  • This means it can detect larger molecules, where smaller organic compounds are not always signs of life forms.
  • The instrument minimises its mass, volume and energy consumption: it weighs less than 8 kg for just a few centimetres.
  • A precursor for other future instruments, it will considerably enhance future astrobiology and geochemistry missions.
1_applicationBioMedicales
Épisode 2/5

How to achieve deeper treatment of tumours with laser-plasma acceleration
Avec Isabelle Dumé, Science journalist
On June 29th, 2022
5min reading time
Alessandro Flacco
Alessandro Flacco
Associate professor at ENSTA Paris (IP Paris)

Key takeaways

  • Laser-plasma accelerators propel high-energy particles over short distances using intense, ultra-short pulses of laser light.
  • Ionising radiation is used in medicine for many purposes: from imaging to diagnosis and treatment of cancers.
  • In radiotherapy the toxicity of ionising radiation on living organisms is used, taking advantage of the different capacity to repair the damage caused to tumour cells and those caused to surrounding healthy cells.
  • Studies have also begun on VHEE (“very high energy electrons”), which theoretically allow a more complete and deeper treatment of tumours.
2_laserPlasma
Épisode 3/5

Using X-rays to test materials without damaging them
Avec Isabelle Dumé, Science journalist
On June 29th, 2022
4min reading time
Cédric Thaury
Cédric Thaury
Research Fellow at LOA* at ENSTA Paris (IP Paris)

Key takeaways

  •  The Applied Optics Laboratory and its spin-off company, SourceLab, are developing a device for using laser-generated plasmas for non-destructive testing of materials by X-ray.
  • Wake plasma accelerators’ have emerged as a promising alternative. These devices use a pulse of energy to create an electric field wave in a plasma.
  • One of the first applications of these plasma accelerators would be in radiography. The precision of these lasers is such that they can probe an object to the nearest 100 microns.
  • The challenge is all the greater because it is a question of penetrating materials and not human bodies. So more power is needed to achieve incredible accuracy.
3_filamentationLaser
Épisode 4/5

Lightning rods and antennas: applications of laser filamentation
Avec Isabelle Dumé, Science journalist
On June 29th, 2022
4min reading time
Aurélien Houard
Aurélien Houard
Researcher at LOA* at ENSTA Paris (IP Paris)

Key takeaways

  • The phenomenon of laser filamentation has several applications such as laser booms, lightning rods, and antennas.
  • The idea of the latter is to replace metallic conductors, which are quite large, with plasma conductors produced with these femtosecond filaments.
  • For the lightning rod it is a matter of making a very long filament capable of guiding the lightning, and possibly triggering it before the storm cloud arrives near a sensitive site, such as an airport.
  • This laser effect works well in the laboratory, and scientists are working to improve its effectiveness at greater distances in air at atmospheric pressure.
Lightning storm over city in purple light
Épisode 5/5

The Lightning Rod project: a laser beam to control lightning
Avec Aurélien Houard, Researcher at LOA* at ENSTA Paris (IP Paris)
On March 15th, 2023
5 min reading time
Aurélien Houard
Aurélien Houard
Researcher at LOA* at ENSTA Paris (IP Paris)

Key takeaways

  • Lightning strikes cause between 6,000 and 24,000 victims each year worldwide.
  • Lightning rods are used to protect against lightning strikes, but they have several shortcomings: limited coverage, electromagnetic interference, or power surges.
  • The Laser Lightning Rod (LLR) project aims to use lasers to deflect lightning strikes.
  • The LLR uses laser technology capable of producing ultrashort, intense laser pulses at a rate of 1,000 shots per second.
  • While a laser beam can deflect lightning, the protection provided needs to be as optimal as possible.

Contributors

Isabelle Dumé

Isabelle Dumé

Science journalist

Isabelle Dumé holds a PhD in physics. She collaborates with various scientific magazines and media, public and private institutions, and actors in higher education and research in France and worldwide.

Other contributions

Lightning rods and antennas: applications of laser filamentation
Using X-rays to test materials without damaging them
How to achieve deeper treatment of tumours with laser-plasma acceleration
How do we study the climates of other planets?
Can thorium compete with uranium as a nuclear fuel?
Voir toutes ses contributions
Aurélien Houard

Aurélien Houard

Researcher at LOA* at ENSTA Paris (IP Paris)

Aurélien Houard's research activities focus on the study of femtosecond laser filamentation and on the applications of laser filaments such as the generation of THz radiation or remote UV laser emission, laser aerodynamic control, acoustic wave generation or the triggering and guiding of electric arcs by laser. His work on the “generation of THz radiation by laser filamentation in the air” received the École Polytechnique thesis prize. Hired as a researcher at the Applied Optics Laboratory* (a joint research unit (UMR) of CNRS / École Polytechnique / ENSTA Paris), he became head of the “Laser-Matter Interaction" team and obtained his Habilitation to direct research. He is also author or co-author of 87 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has given 25 invited conference presentations. He is currently the coordinator of a major European project to develop a laser lightning conductor in collaboration with the University of Geneva, EPFL and Ariane Group.

Other contributions

The Lightning Rod project: a laser beam to control lightning
Lightning rods and antennas: applications of laser filamentation

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