Understanding the interaction of intense ultrafast radiation with matter

拉蒙诺博士的实验室是一台高性能的计算机，她用它精确地模拟非常强大的激光脉冲对材料的影响。这些脉冲的长度是十亿分之一秒，它们与材料的相互作用正在开辟科学和技术的新前沿，从制造极小的光学设备，到对细胞和亚细胞功能进行开创性实验的显微外科手术，再到发现科学前沿的新的和未被探索的过程。 拉蒙诺博士的研究目标之一是了解如何使用强大的激光对材料进行精细而精确的“切割”和其他重组，以制造将导致信息和通信技术和医学等领域进步的微观设备。这种相互作用本身是非常复杂的，可能会导致意想不到的重组，而目前人们对此还没有很好的理解。 新的相干辐射源正在被开发，其波长越来越小，从紫外线到X射线，强度比最先进的同步加速器高出10亿倍。它们被用来探测激光与物质在完全未知的区域中的相互作用。测试这种相互作用的一种方法是通过辐射团簇，这是一种大小在1到100纳米量级的固体物质小块。拉蒙诺博士的另一个研究目标是通过大规模的数值模拟，在微观层面上研究这些辐射源与星团的复杂相互作用。 她的研究计划中不可或缺的一部分是培训三名研究生。其中两个方面将研究强辐射与星团的相互作用，第三个方面将研究通过强激光脉冲对透明材料进行材料重构。

Dr. Ramunno's laboratory is a high-performance computer with which she uses to accurately simulate the effect of very powerful laser pulses on materials. These pulses are ten millionth of a billionth of a second long, and their interaction with materials is opening new frontiers in science and technology, from the fabrication of extremely small optical devices, to microscopic surgery for groundbreaking experiments on cellular and sub-cellular function to the discovery of new and unexplored processes at the forefront of science. One goal of Dr. Ramunno's research is to understand how powerful lasers can be used to make delicate and precise "cuts" and other restructuring in materials in order to make microscopic devices that will lead to advances in areas such as information and communications technology and medicine. The interaction itself is highly complex, and can result in unexpected restructuring that is currently not well understood. New coherent radiation sources are being developed at ever smaller wavelengths from the ultraviolet to Xrays and at intensities a billion times more brilliant than state-of-the-art synchrotrons. These are being used to probe laser-matter interactions in totally unexplored regimes. One way to test this interaction is via the irradiatiom clusters, which are small chunks of solid materials on the order of 1 to 100 nanometres in size. Dr. Ramunno's other research goal is to investigate the complex interaction of these radiation sources with clusters on a microscopic level via large-scale numerical simulations. An integral part of her research program is the training of three graduate students. Two will work on aspects of intense radiation interaction with clusters, and a third on material restructuring of transparent materials by intense laser pulses.