HFML-FELIX
HFML-FELIX: High Field Magnet Laboratory (HFML) – Free Electron Laser(s) for Infrared eXperiments (FELIX) laboratorium
HFML-FELIX hosts a world-unique research infrastructure, leading in science and technology with high magnetic fields, infrared/THz free-electron laser radiation and the combination thereof. Studying matter under extreme conditions of high magnetic fields and intense radiation enables molecules and materials to be probed with unprecedented precision and to be driven into unchartered territory, potentially revealing new physics and functionalities. This innovative research program provides indispensable contributions to the Dutch research portfolio, facilitates an important partnership with industry, educates a large number of students, and responds to societal challenges of health, energy and smart materials, to the benefit of society at large.
Infrastructure and User Services
HFML-FELIX operates five resistive, water-cooled electromagnets powered by a 22 MW power supply with a maximum magnetic field of 38 T. A 45 T hybrid magnet and a dedicated levitation magnet, with a world-record gradient field, are under development. The institute offers a suite of four free-electron lasers providing high-intensity, widely-tuneable and ultra-short pulse radiation in the infrared/THz spectral range (3-1500 μm). FELICE, the free-electron laser for intra-cavity experiments, is currently the only one of its kind in the world and provides a factor of 50-100 times higher intensity at the point of the experiment. HFML-FELIX is the only facility worldwide that couples static high-magnetic fields to infrared/THz free-electron lasers.
HFML-FELIX serves as an international open-access user facility and issues two calls for proposals per year using online submission systems. Both calls comply with the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures. The proposals are reviewed by external selection committees (‘PAC’ for FELIX and the EMFL ‘SelCom’ for HFML), which are composed of leading scientists in the different fields of scientific expertise relevant to the infrastructure. The main evaluation criteria are scientific merit and whether the magnets and/or free-electron lasers are the most appropriate tools for the study. The evaluation outcome is reported to HFML-FELIX and magnet/beam time is arranged in such a way as to fit the specific needs and requirements of the individual experimental campaigns. In addition, industrial users performing experiments under non-disclosure can apply via a (fast-track) procedure and are charged access costs at the full-cost rate.
Examples/description of the type of research
The electromagnetic spectrum offered by HFML-FELIX is a frontier area for research in physics, (astro)chemistry, biology, materials science and medicine. Infrared/THz radiation is uniquely suited for studying and controlling systems such as molecules; clustersℂ electrons in metals&semiconductors; as well as the collective modes of biologically important proteins. The versatility and universality of magnetic fields as a research tool lies in their coupling to the charge and spin of electrons that constitute all matter. This coupling can induce magnetic, electronic, and even structural phase transitions in hard condensed-matter systems, while its effects on soft matter are similarly profound. The use of high-magnetic fields and accelerator-based photon sources has been essential for many pioneering discoveries that have led, among other things, to Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine, e.g. the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of graphene.
At HFML-FELIX, investigations can be performed covering a broad spectrum of physical, chemical and biological phenomena. Experiments can be done to probe, control and manipulate essentially all states of matter, in the solid, liquid and gaseous phase.
The in-house science programme of HFML-FELIX is organized around 5 topic lines (external users can address scientific questions beyond these topic lines, provided intense IR/THz radiation and/or high-magnetic fields are relevant):
- Mapping and manipulating quantum phases of matter;
- Non-equilibrium phases of matter;
- Dynamic self-organisation of soft condensed-matter;
- Molecular-structure identification and reactivity using advanced infrared spectroscopy;
- Innovative instruments for advanced spectroscopy in high-magnetic fields and with intense infrared/THz lasers.
How to access the infrastructure
HFML-FELIX issues two calls for proposals per year using online submission systems. The proposals are reviewed by panels of leading scientists in the different research fields relevant to the infrastructure. The main evaluation criteria are scientific merit and the justification to use the magnets and/or free-electron lasers for the study. The evaluation outcome is reported to the board and magnet / beam time is scheduled according to the specific needs and requirements of the experimental campaigns. In addition, industrial users performing experiments under non-disclosure can apply via a special procedure and are charged access costs at the full-cost rate.