MIUR International Project FERMI

The International Project FERMI started in 2015, year of conclusion of the Flagship Project, with the aim of constantly improving the FERMI performances responding to the needs of the international users community. FERMI offers unparalleled opportunities for exploring the structure and transient states of condensed matter, soft matter and low-density matter using a variety of diffraction, scattering and spectroscopy techniques. The excellence of the FERMI scientific programme is secured by the fruitful collaboration between beamlines and accelerator scientists on the continuous upgrade of the source performances driven by the needs of the most prestigious research groups. The ongoing developments concern special FEL configurations, higher photon energies (1.8 nm) and FEL light pulses of shorter duration (sub-femtoseconds) assuring the reproducibility and stability in intensity, wavelength and line width of the FEL pulses, together with the control of their main properties, as wavelength(s), duration, polarization and synchronization with an external laser in the whole spectral range.

Other Italian public research institutions involved

The International Project FERMI consolidates the collaborations initiated within the Flagship Project with INFN, ENEA, CNR, INSTM and several Italian Universities exploiting at best the acquired know-how and the previous experiences.

Scientific and technical international collaborations

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, USA;

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA;

• University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles, USA;

• UChicago Argonne, LLC as operator of Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, USA;

• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, USA;

• SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, USA;

• RADIABEAM Technologies, LLC, Santa Monica, USA;

• Stiftung Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY), Amburgo, Germania;

• Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germania;

• MAX-lab - Lund University, Lund, Svezia;

• Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Svizzera;

• University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia;

• Instrumentation Technologies d.d., Solkan, Slovenia;

• The Russian Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute”, Mosca, Russia.

Strategic objectives

• Continuous improvement of the FERMI free electron laser source and its integration into the multidisciplinary international E-ST research centre of excellence, thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the international communities of users, beamline and accelerator scientists.

• Improvement of the FERMI performances and reliability in special configurations thanks to the acquired know-how and experience, extending the FEL spectrum to lower wavelengths and the light pulse duration to sub-femtosecond, to respond to the needs of the international scientific community.

• Broadening of the services open to the international user community in the fields of nano-sciences and nano-technologies with the offer of innovative and enhanced analytical techniques for the structural and electronic characterization of materials with high-brightness, polarized, fully coherent electromagnetic radiation, with particular emphasis on dynamical, time-resolved studies.

• Coordination and integration of FERMI in the European FEL facilities landscape.

• Development and transfer to industry of new technologies for the national and international market aimed at encouraging the attraction of new industrial companies in Italy and the creation of spin-offs and at strengthening the role of specialized industry in the world market of light sources.

• Training of specialized support staff thanks to the ongoing technical-scientific developments and encouragement of mobility from academia towards industry.