On Friday 17th September, the Research Complex at Harwell was proud to support a major milestone for the Artemis Laser Facility, when the engineering phase of their upgrade project was officially completed. This momentous occasion was celebrated with food, drinks, tours, and a ceremonial ribbon cutting by Prof. John Collier.
The commemoration marked an exciting step forward for Research Complex and the Central Laser Facility (CLF). The new laboratories double Artemis's floorspace, and enable it to host a new 100 kHz laser with 10x the energy efficiency of its predecessor and a new vacuum beamline.
Moving Artemis to the Research Complex has and will continue to provide many benefits, including the added collaboration between its sister laser, Ultra, which has been here at Research Complex for over a decade, the Octopus Facility with CLF and the support from the core team and potential collaboration with other research groups based here.
As part of the deal to move Artemis to the Research Complex, the CLF commissioned an extension onto the building to allow for more space for labs.
Artemis Group Leader, Dr Emma Springate, said,
“I'm really excited to be starting the scientific phase of this project, in these wonderful new labs in the Research Complex. The new lab-space and beamlines look amazing and perform really well. The new vacuum system for the beamlines is really quiet, and we can control everything smoothly from touchscreens. It's going to make such a difference to how effectively we can work. I'm really impressed with what our engineers and technicians have done."
The Research Complex was glad to support the engineers and technicians who put the incredible work in to complete this upgrade. We look forward to seeing the future experiments, discoveries, partnerships and collaborations Artemis will bring as they benefit from being under the singular roof of Research Complex.
Image appears courtesy of Central Laser Facility.
