SciLux podcast – Alexandros Gerakis on Lasers and Plasma

12 November 2024

Alexandros Gerakis a Senior Research & Technology Associate at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), focusing on Plasma Physics and Lasers.

Dr Gerakis holds a PhD in Physics from University College London, UK. Prior to joining LIST, he had a PostDoc at Harvard University, was an Associate Research Physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and an Assistant Professor (currently an Adjunct Professor) at the Department, Texas A&M University, leading the “Optical Probing & Manipulation” Group.

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FRAGOLA project

FRAGOLA is an innovative laser technology project submitted in 2022 by the LIST to the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), granted €2 million in funding.

FRAGOLA stands for “FRequency AGile Optical Lattices” and the funding was awarded to Dr Alexandros Gerakis as part of FNR’s ATTRACT programme designed for researchers not yet established in Luxembourg, able to demonstrate potential in becoming leaders in their field of research.

Dr Gerakis, LIST’s Principal Investigator of FRAGOLA outlined the goal the project. “It aims to deliver by the end of its duration, a complete laser diagnostic solution for neutral and plasma flows. This will not only be the first-of-its-kind demonstration of such capabilities, involving a deep understanding of light-matter interaction, but also develop state-of-the-art laser instrumentation to be able to tackle the task”.

Laser based diagnostic techniques are promising replacements for mechanical probes offering numerous advantages such as non-intrusive, non-perturbative and non-destructive capabilities, fast acquisition times, and more precise measurements of quantities of interest such as temperature, density, flow velocity etc.

Dr Gerakis explained that this project will enable LIST to “jumpstart its activities into advanced laser-based diagnostics used for neutrals, plasmas and nanoparticles, and develop unique expertise, knowledge, tools and know-how, placing LIST and Luxembourg at the centre of relevant research activities on a world-wide scale”.

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