Welcome to our first newsletter of the year! ? Meet our new professor, ? dive into groundbreaking EUV research, ? celebrate PhD successes, and ? explore exciting new projects. Plus, we bid farewell to Stefan Witte with a special symposium?
Oscar Versolato new Professor of EUV Plasma Processes |
In addition to his role as ARCNL group leader, Oscar Versolato has started as full professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His chair is embedded in the Physics and Astronomy department. Oscar’s research interests include plasma sources of extreme ultraviolet radiation, droplet deformation and fragmentation after laser pulse impact, physics of highly charged ions, and spectroscopy. |
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Ester Abram discovered a universal warning signal for optical damage onset |
Universal and easy-to-measure warning signals for catastrophic damage occur in the metals used to transport data in computer chips. That is what ARCNL PhD student Ester Abram discovered and described in a recent paper in the Journal of Applied Physics. “A slight increase in the observed reflectivity of the metal indicates that its morphology is starting to change as a result of exposure to laser light.” |
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New insights into the Langdon effect in extreme ultraviolet source plasmas |
Jorge Gonzalez and John Sheil from ARCNL have published a paper in Physical Review E that sheds new light on the Langdon effect in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source plasmas.
This paper provides theoretical evidence that electrons in these plasmas can be driven into non-equilibrium (or non-Maxwellian) distributions. This marks the first demonstration of the phenomenon. |
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Zhouping Lyu: ‘High-resolution Imaging Through a Multimode Fiber: From Raster-scanning to Compressive Sensing’ |
On December 11th, Zhouping defended her thesis at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Zhouping did her doctoral research in the group of Lyuba Amitonova. She explored how optical multimode fibers (MMFs) – renowned for their compactness, flexibility, and high mode density – can be harnessed for imaging across fields, such as neuroscience and semiconductor metrology. |
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Yahia Mostafa: ‘Mass & Energy Efficient Tin Laser Produced Plasma Light Sources |
On January 10th, Yahia defended his thesis at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. At ARCNL, Yahia set out to explore and characterize tin plasma extreme ultraviolet light sources alternative to the current industry standard.
Yahia’s work has attracted attention from both science and industry. As his promotor, Oscar Versolato, noted: “There is clearly interest in Yahia’s research from science and industry related to lithography and EUV sources". |
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Cyrian Leriche: ‘Visualizing, quantifying, and understanding nanowear of hard multi-asperity contacts’ |
On February 25th Cyrian defended his thesis at the University of Amsterdam. As PhD student in the Contact Dynamics group of Bart Weber, Cyrian worked on the complexities of wear mechanisms across different scales. His research bridges the understanding from single asperity contacts to large multi-asperity contacts, providing valuable insights into tribochemical wear and its manipulation through environmental conditions. |
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NWO grant to develop super-speed OCT technique for new applications |
Lyuba Amitonova (ARCNL and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and researcher Dierck Hillmann (VU) receive funding from NWO for their joint research project ‘Super-Speed Swept-Source Full-Field Optical Coherence Tomography’. The project is granted in the Open Competition Domain Science-M program and amounts 833.000 euro. |
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TeraTom project aims to develop innovative prototype for semiconductor industry |
The National Growth Fund Future-proof high-tech equipment finances the project TeraTom. Paul Planken (ARCNL/UvA) contributes by working on techniques to measure sharper images with terahertz light and on methods to detect terahertz light from devices when exposed to visible laser pulses. The project receives more than 11 million euros in grants. |
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Goodbye to Stefan Witte with a dedicated symposium |
After ten years at ARCNL, group leader Stefan Witte has accepted a new role as full professor of Optics for Nanoscale Metrology at Delft University of Technology. On February 26th, ARCNL and VU organized a symposium in honor of Stefan. The organizers invited various speakers who have played a role in Stefan’s scientific career up to this date, along with those who will be part of his future endeavors. |
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4 September 2025 • starting 15:30 hours • ARCNL, atrium
‘ARCNL, pionier in publiek-private samenwerking’ (NL event)
Panel discussion followed by book launch |
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Science Park 106
1098 XG Amsterdam
The Netherlands |
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ARCNL is a public-private partnership between NWO, University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Groningen and semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML, and managed by the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I). ARCNL’s mission is to focus on fundamental physics and chemistry in the context of technologies for (nano)lithography, primarily for the semiconductor industry. |
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We’d love to stay connected beyond our newsletter! |
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