Each participant can take part in one hands-on activity and one laboratory visit. Registration for these programmes will be available on-site.
Laboratory visits for ELISS 2026
TOUR 1: 16:00-17:00
SYLOS 2 – MIR HE – (TAS) – HR (2 X 10 people)
LTA (2 X 10 people)
HTA (2 X 20 people)
NANOFAB-BIOMED (2 X 10 people)
TOUR 2: 17:00-18:00
SYLOS 2 – MIR HE – (TAS) – HR (2 X 10 people)
LTA (2 X 10 people)
HTA (2 X 20 people)
NANOFAB-BIOMED (2 X 10 people)
Hands on activities for ELISS 2026
Reconstructing the shape of atomic orbitals from raw detector signals (Tamás Csizmadia)
Monday 16:15-18:00 (5 people)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (5 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (5 people)
This training introduces the basics of data analysis for experiments conducted at a ReMi/COLTRIMS endstation. Using its dedicated software environment (CoboldPC), participants will analyze raw detector signals to extract physical observables, such as ion mass-to-charge spectra, electron/ion momentum and kinetic energy distributions relevant in studying the interaction of ionizing light with atomic gas targets.
The analysis includes steps, such as the determination of time-of-flight and position offsets, calibration of the electric and magnetic fields, reconstruction of electron and ion momentum vectors, selection of relevant electron-ion coincidence events and verifying momentum conservation.
After a brief introduction into the experimental setup, students will have the opportunity to apply these steps on the data analysis machine themselves to get practical experience with data processing techniques applied in kinematically complete measurements.
Off-axis parabolic mirror alignment and focal spot optimization (Dániel Papp, Mojtaba Shirozhan)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (4 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (4 people)
The objective of the training is to demonstrate how to align an off-axis parabolic (or spherical mirror) and optimize the focal spot. This would be done on an offline benchtop setup, using 1” optics and a visible diode laser.
High-intensity laser-plasma experiments involve the focusing of ultrashort laser beams with spherical or parabolic mirrors, requiring careful optical alignment to achieve a close to diffraction-limited focal spot size. The practice gives an introduction into focal spot alignment, optimization and monitoring for focusing mirrors. After the demonstration, the participants will do the alignment procedure themselves on a benchtop setup.
High resolution wavefront metrology (Indranuj Dey and Endre Zsombor Karsai)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (5 people)
Wavefront measurement in optics is crucial for analyzing and correcting aberrations, enhancing image quality, measuring phase differences, and improving the performance of optical systems. The participants will be introduced to high resolution wavefront metrology. Various aberrations would be demonstrated using active (deformable mirror) and passive (lenses) optical components, to show their effect on beam quality. Strategies to mitigate aberrations in a practical optical system would be discussed.
Second harmonic generation of 1030 nm laser pulses (Prabhash Prasannan Geetha)
Monday 16:15-18:00 (8 people)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (8 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (8 people)
The aim of this tutorial session is to provide an understanding of the second harmonic generation of 1030 nm laser pulses. The session is planned to cover the fundamental principles, origin of optical non-linearity in materials, physical mechanism about how the SHG is produced, experimental considerations, and practical implementation strategies involved in frequency-doubling high-power ultrafast laser systems commonly used in advanced optical and condensed matter research. Additionally, the tutorial will explore key phase-matching conditions, crystal selection criteria, and efficiency optimization techniques essential for handling high-intensity infrared sources. Finally, attendees will gain practical insights into troubleshooting common alignment challenges optimization of phase matching during frequency conversion.
Phase matching simulation in high harmonic generation (HHG) (Balázs Major)
Monday 16:15-18:00 (10 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (10 people)
The participants of this practice will learn the basic principles of phase matching (PM) in high-harmonic generation (HHG) in gases. During this theoretical lesson, we will build a simple model that can be used to study PM, and that allows one to optimize generation conditions. As a final goal, we will go through the main steps of how to design an HHG beamline with specific technical constraints and availabilities to obtain a source theoretically optimized for a specific purpose.
!!! Students registered for this activity must bring a laptop with them.
TDDFT simulations of HHG in atomic and molecular systems (Mousumi Kahaly)
Monday 16:15-18:00 (20 people)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (20 people)
Numerical simulations are indispensable tools for building intuition and deepening understanding of complex ultrafast phenomena – offering a level of control, reproducibility, and insight that effectively complements cutting-edge experiments. By exploring theoretical models interactively, researchers can test ideas, interpret experimental results, and design better experiments. This hands-on session aims to help participants understand some key concepts and use simulation tools in the field of strong-field and attosecond physics, with a focus on high-harmonic generation (HHG), using interactive Jupyter notebooks. It is structured in three progressive parts:
Ultrafast pulses – Explore how spectral width and phase derivatives affect pulse shape via inverse Fourier synthesis.
SAE model – Simulate HHG spectra of atoms like He, Ne, and Ar using the Lewenstein model.
TDDFT simulations – Run HHG calculations with Octopus and compare results with SAE model predictions and experimental data.
Participants will be invited to explore parameters interactively and complete an extended TDDFT simulation as homework to better match experimental results.
!!! Students of this hands-on activity must use their own laptops.
Electron microscopy and focused ion beam milling for structural analysis (Judit Budai and Zsuzsanna Márton)
Monday 16:15-18:00 (6 people)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (6 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (6 people)
The aim of the hands-on session is to give an insight into energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and focused ion beam milling. The students will participate i) in recording EDX spectra of a layered structure at different electron acceleration voltages, and ii) the preparation and imaging of a cross sectional cut into the same layered sample. The comparison of the layer structure and EDX spectra will reveal information about the interaction volume of the e-beam at different acceleration voltages.
Radiobiology studies (Rita Szabó)
Monday 16:15-18:00 (5 people)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (5 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (5 people)
The main goal of the practice is to provide a short introduction into radiation biology. During the session, participants will learn about the significance of radiobiology, and the experimental studies in radiation biology which contribute to the development of radiotherapy. The participants will receive information about the advantages of zebrafish embryos as an in vivo novel vertebrate system for studying radiation-induced organ deteriorations on macro- and microscopic levels. This training session aims to familiarize participants with the practical aspects of analyzing zebrafish embryos for developmental abnormalities, measuring embryo length, eye diameter, and yolk sac diameter using pre- and post-irradiation images. The students will gain hands-on experience in handling embryos, using image analysis software, and interpreting results effectively.
1D quantum modelling of atoms and small molecules in strong laser fields (Attila Czirják, Attila Tóth, Krisztina Sallai)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (15 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (15 people)
The goals of this session are:
- to make the students familiar with 1D model potentials customary in strong-field physics in the case of linearly polarized laser pulses,
- to teach a simple but effective numerical method for solving the 1D TDSE quickly and with sufficient accuracy,
- to understand how to compute interesting physical quantities from the wavefunction,
- to let the students numerically experiment and explore the physics of simple quantum systems driven by a strong laser pulse.
!!! Students of this hands-on activity must use their own laptops and Python.
d-scan in action: hands-on temporal pulse characterization (Rosa Romero)
Thursday 16:15-18:00 (4 people)
Friday 9:00-10:45 (4 people)
The description can be found here.
