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17 Jun 2002
When Costas Fotakis helped to set up Crete's Institute for Electronic Structure and Lasers in 1983, Greek optics was starting from scratch. Michael Hatcher finds out how the institute has moved on and hears Fotakis' ideas about the future of European research.
From Opto & Laser Europe November 2001
Ancient Greece could, with some justification, claim to have been the birthplace of optical technology applications. Legend has it that when defending Syracuse (today's Sicily) against the advancing Romans, the mathematician Archimedes used a rudimetary concave mirror to focus the Sun's rays onto General Marcellus' wooden warships. The ships caught fire, sank, and the Roman fleet was scuttled.
But that was 2300 years ago. What of optics technology in modern Greece? If not yet quite a legend, Costas Fotakis, founder and now director of the Institute for Electronic Structure and Lasers (IESL) in Heraklion, Crete, is certainly one of Greek optics' best-known exponents.
Originally from Athens, Fotakis arrived in Crete in 1982 armed with a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, UK. A year later, Greece's Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH) was formed. Fotakis' IESL was one of its six component institutes.
At that time, Greek optics was in a poor state. "Everything had to be started from scratch," said Fotakis. "There was very limited technological work going on in optical sciences at that time, not only in Crete but in the whole country. This meant that we faced a huge challenge, but the links I had had with the Rutherford laboratory during my stay in the UK meant that I had some knowledge of what was needed to set up a laser centre and could apply that in Crete."
Fotakis set out with the belief that it was crucial to employ high-quality staff who would perform high-quality science. "It would not have been enough to be simply OK," said Fotakis. "[As a new centre] we needed excellence in basic science." This meant attracting both established top scientists and talented young researchers to Crete. Today, the IESL employs 190 staff.
Of the scientific breakthroughs that have followed, perhaps the most significant will turn out to be the generation of attosecond pulses. These were observed for the very first time at the IESL in 1999, opening up exciting prospects for the direct observation of ultrafast physical phenomena.
Fotakis is also
very excited about a new technique called laser-induced forward
transfer, which he says has been mastered at the IESL. It involves
depositing tiny amounts of a material to make microscale and
nanoscale devices. Fotakis sees great potential for the technique at
the interface of laser technology and molecular biology, for example
in depositing arrays of DNA. Fotakis also ensures that the experience
of those working under him is not limited to the laboratory:
"Emphasis is placed on maintaining a balanced interplay between
scientific, applied, technological and entrepreneurial activities," he
explained. To this end, he has taken concrete steps towards
encouraging technology transfer and providing services to the private
sector. Demonstration units have been established in both Crete's
Science and Technology Park and the Laser Innovation Centre (LIC)
in Athens. The LIC operates as a job-shop for materials processing
applications and has led directly to the formation of a spin-off
company called Axon Tec. Fotakis has been instrumental in
bringing laser technology to the attention of art conservationists and
set up the first conference for lasers in the conservation of artwork
(LACONA), held in Crete in 1995. Now held every two years, Paris
played host to this year's fourth LACONA event, and Fotakis was
one of the main attractions. Members of the IESL provided almost a
quarter of the oral contributions. Levels of attendance at
LACONA have doubled since the first conference. Growing interest
in the field has led to the formation of Art Innovation, a
Netherlands-based company that distributes multispectral imaging
systems developed at the IESL for art conservation diagnostics.
Another spin-off company, called Forth Instruments, is now in the
pipeline, and will develop more of the IESL's imaging systems in
biomedicine and art conservation. "There are parallels between
the use of lasers in artwork conservation now and their use in
medicine 10 or 15 years ago," Fotakis told OLE. Convincing
conservationists to use laser technology is proving even more of a
challenge than working with surgeons, however: "Conservationists
like to feel that they have a direct input into their work, but using
techniques like laser spectroscopy takes this away from them. We
need to show them that the laser is simply a tool, like the scalpel, and
leave the decision on how to use it to them." His position as
the IESL's director means that Fotakis plays a major part in
European research. He stresses the importance of multinational EU
research projects, as much in terms of their role in establishing a
pan-European scientific culture as their importance to furthering
science as a whole. "The participation of the IESL in EU
programmes has been critical in shaping its current internationality,"
he said. Fotakis also welcomes what he perceives as a shift in
focus towards a greater awareness of the importance of fundamental
science: "Earlier EU research and development policy placed too
much emphasis on 'applied industrial research' and gave minimal
support to fundamental science. This seriously limited the prospects
for successful applications. However, in the forthcoming European
Research Area this seems to be less of a worry." Fotakis is also keen to see projects widening their
geographical scope: "European research should stop being a closed
system and open up to colleagues in America, Japan and other
countries. A policy based on the promotion of scientific excellence is
the best investment for the future." The IESL's own
investment for the future centres on its broad training programme.
The institute has been selected by the EU for two Marie Curie
training sites for PhD students, and offers courses and laboratory
training in such fields as optoelectronics and applied molecular
spectroscopy. Training in modern laser technology applications for
medical doctors, conservationists and production scientists is also
provided. Appropriately, optical technology - in the more
modern form of the laser - is once again coming to the assistance of
Ancient Greece. Thanks in no small way to Fotakis, conservationists
will soon be using lasers for the first time to restore parts of one of
the best-known remnants of that age - the Parthenon in Athens. One
imagines that Archimedes would approve. Art Innovation www.art-innovation.nl
FORTH IESL www.iesl.forth.gr
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