Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Few discoveries spread throughout the world so quickly and in such an enduring manner as X--rays. The image of Bertha Röntgen's hand, taken by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, caused significant hype around this new technique, as one suddenly could visualize what lied hidden deep inside. Shortly after, hints arose that this radiation could be harmful to humans - but also curative under certain conditions. Within a few years, the broad complexity regarding interaction of X--rays unfolded - and still continues over a century later. One of the many open questions is how radiation influences biologically relevant molecules? Also, which role does coherence play - in other words, how do observations change depending on whether the light--matter interaction is driven by coherent (laser) or incoherent (natural) light? I will address these and other questions using novel UV and X--ray light sources I have been co--developing over the past several years at the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS, INRS--ÉMT) based on the Frequency domain Nonlinear Optic (FNO) concept. Today's light sources treat the degree of coherence as a given constant rather than a controlled variable despite its enormous influence on many physical phenomena. I aim to change this by creating the Coherence Control Platform for Imaging and Technology to control light in unprecedented ways for new applications in ultrafast imaging and photonics. For the next 5 years, I will address major challenges of ultrafast science and technologies: �Developing novel quantum imaging tools based on FNO to add new degrees of freedom including the coherence parameter of light. This way, experiments using lasers in the lab can approach simulated sun light to represent effects in nature more closely than using fully coherent laser light. �Exploiting these unique sources for yet uncharted fields of ultrafast science by probing structural and electronic dynamics, including statistical processes in various molecules. In particular, I aim to image ultrafast chemical reactions in (biologically relevant) molecules, triggered by the ionization of core--electrons to gain fundamental understanding of far-reaching processes relevant to radiobiology. �Investigating synergy effects of ultrafast imaging and artificial intelligence. This will allow an increase in the complexity of analysed systems. In turn, available multidimensional data sets might ameliorate algorithms and can be of interest for information and communication technologies. This effort requires multidisciplinary expertise in chemistry, physics, photonics, and computation and will provide an exciting skill set for the 3 Ph.D.- and 5 undergraduate students I plan to hire for my research program over the next 5 years. These trainees will be the foundation of my new, open--minded and motivated research group. They will realize their experiments at ALLS, a world-class laser facility, while participating in national, international, and industrial collaborations.