Penultimate amplification stage of the high-power POLARIS laser system.

Further Flagship Equipment and Facilities

ACP scientists enjoy access to a large variety of facilities and research equipment located at the affiliated university and non-university institutions. These facilities comprise state-of-the-art optical equipment and processing capabilities that stand out within the German university landscape.

Penultimate amplification stage of the high-power POLARIS laser system.

Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)

Further Flagship Equipment and Facilities

In addition to the ACP-NANO-TeCh Core Facility, further flagship equipment enables advanced research in optics, photonics, and light-driven processes across the fundamental and applied spectrum. These infrastructures form the technological backbone of the Abbe Center of Photonics' research as well as of the university's LIGHT profile line. They distinguish our work from other institutions by offering one-of-a-kind experimental conditions and integrated platforms across ultrafast optics, structured light, quantum photonics, and biophotonics – all rooted in university-led research and innovation.

Penultimate amplification stage of the the POLARIS laser system.
Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)

A cornerstone of this infrastructure is the Relativistic Laser-Plasma Source (RLPS), hosted at the Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics. Central to the RLPS is the POLARIS laser system - one of the first diode-pumped petawatt-class lasers worldwide and still one-of-a-kind in Germany. POLARIS delivers femtosecond pulses with pulse energies in the 100-joule range and is designed for high stability and repetition rate. It enables and delivers unique research in relativistic plasma dynamics, high-energy photon and particle generation, and nonlinear quantum electrodynamics. Its university ownership makes it a rare and powerful tool for both fundamental and applied studies under extreme conditions.

Fiber laser laboratory.
Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)

The Ultrafast Mid-Infrared and High-Power Fiber Laser Platform, located at the Institute of Applied Physics, is another flagship facility. It features advanced fiber laser systems producing high-average-power femtosecond pulses across a broad spectral range. The platform includes systems for frequency conversion, attosecond pulse generation, and mid-IR to XUV beamlines. These capabilities support research in strong-field physics, coherent spectroscopy, and advanced laser-material interaction including various types of cutting-edge microscopy and spectroscopy.

Doctoral student Meritxell Cabrejo at the microscopy setup
Image: MPSP

Another component are our Advanced Imaging and Adaptive Optics Laboratories. This lab houses super-resolution microscopy modalities (STED, PALM/STORM, SIM), light-sheet microscopes, adaptive optics platforms, and digital holography systems. They enable frontier research in imaging of biological samples, mechanobiology, and soft matter physics by combining custom optics development with advanced computational imaging.