FOM and RU sign agreement on relocation FELIX/FELICE
On Thursday 7 July, the Foundation FOM and the Radboud University Nijmegen signed an agreement about the relocation in 2012 of the free electron lasers FELIX and FELICE from the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics to Nijmegen. The Radboud University is building a new underground laser lab, which will feature a new terahertz free electron laser as well as FELIX and FELICE. FOM employees working on the two free electron lasers received a hospitable welcome by the president of the executive board, toured the city they will be working in, and visited the construction site of their new laboratory.
Unique cluster of laboratories
In the new FELIX laboratory (Free Electron Lasers for Infrared eXperiments), the FOM free electron laser user facility FELIX/FELICE will take its place next to FLARE. This brand new free electron laser will produce far infrared radiation in complementary spectral region to that of FELIX and will produce first light near the end of this year. Researchers can also use the facilities at the nearby HFML (High Field Magnet Laboratory).
The new laser lab complements the other high tech facilities of the Radboud University's Institute for Molecules and Materials. These include the HFML mentioned above, the scanning probe microscopes of the Nijmgen NanoLab, and the NMR-set ups of
the Goudsmit pavillion. Together, these experiments form a unique European materials research facility.