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360˚ video: Joint Attosecond Science Laboratory - Transcript
On screen: Attosecond Science Laboratory - Ottawa, Ontario
Welcome to the Joint Attosecond Science Laboratory at the NRC in Ottawa, situated at 100 Sussex Drive.
It is the result of a special partnership between the NRC and the University of Ottawa.
The lab is home to the world's most influential groups in femtosecond and attosecond science. It was established by Dr. Paul Corkum, known as the father of attosecond science and holder of a joint University of Ottawa–NRC research chair in Attosecond Photonics.
An attosecond lasts one billionth of a billionth of a second. Think of it like this: one attosecond is to 1 second as one second is to the age of the universe.
In this lab, researchers specialize in femtosecond laser sources, attosecond xuv sources, strong field atomic and molecular physics, molecular dynamics, and theory of atoms and molecules in intense fields.
The ultra-fast lasers found here use a wavelength beyond human vision, which emits a series of extremely short and powerful pulses.
The laser is used as a strobe to photograph the subatomic world. It allows us to take a snapshot of an electron in motion.
In this room, researchers from the NRC as well as from the University of Ottawa probe even deeper into the submolecular world using laser techniques.
The equipment in these specialized labs is so sensitive that the lasers are placed on top of 60 cm thick honeycomb tables. The concrete floor slab has been separated from the rest of the building to remove vibrations of people walking nearby. Temperature, humidity and pressure are all strictly controlled.
Thanks to these labs, Ottawa is now recognized as a leader in attosecond science.
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[On screen: official signature, National Research Council Canada / Conseil national de recherches Canada]
[On screen: Government of Canada Wordmark]
This video was filmed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.