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In this issue:
Researchers Get First Glimpse of Light-boosting Effect in a Solid
Special Colloquium Today: Hubble
Welcome, New SLACers!
'Well Time' Opens Eight Hours of Sick Time for BeWell Activities

SLAC Today

Thursday - December 9, 2010

Researchers Get First Glimpse of Light-boosting Effect in a Solid

(Photo)
Certain interactions between light and matter transform photons from low-energy (infrared) to high-energy (ultraviolet) through a process known as high harmonic generation. PULSE researchers have produced the effect in a solid for the first time. (Image by SLAC Information Management and Portal Services.)

Interactions between an atom and an intense laser field sometimes result in the atom emitting a photon with a higher energy than the incoming laser photons. This process, known as high harmonic generation, has been well-studied in gases. Researchers at the joint SLAC-Stanford PULSE Institute for Ultrafast Energy Science and the Ohio State University decided to test this phenomenon in a solid, where many atoms are packed closely together. Their results, published online this week in Nature Physics, detail the first observations of high harmonics in a crystal, and could help explain fundamental interactions between light and matter.

"No one has ever seen this type of harmonic generation from inside a crystal," said PULSE Deputy Director David Reis, who participated in the experiment led by PULSE research associate Shambhu Ghimire. "This is also the first time the strength of the light field has been comparable to the forces in a solid. We had to think of the light and the crystal as a whole."  Read more...

Special Colloquium Today: Hubble

 (Poster by SLAC Information Management and Portal Services.)

Today at 4 p.m. in Kavli Auditorium, astronaut John Grunsfeld will present "Hubble," exploring his adventures in orbit and early results from the recently upgraded Hubble Space Telescope.

In May 2009, a team of astronauts flew to the telescope on space shuttle Atlantis. On their 13-day mission and over the course of five spacewalks they completed an extreme makeover of the orbiting observatory. For the first time on orbit the Hubble has a full complement of instruments capable of performing state-of-the-art observations from the near infra-red to the ultraviolet end of the spectrum. The early results from the new and repaired instruments hint at a bright scientific future for Hubble.

The talk will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. It is free and open to all.

(Photo - new employees)
(Photo by Barbara Hemstad.)

Welcome, New SLACers!

SLAC welcomed 19 recently hired employees at the December New Employee Orientation, which took place on December 2. Please welcome our new staff as they embark on their new career paths here at SLAC.

Front Row (from left): Joseph Cobar, Stephanie Woodard, Hanna Zemene, George Martinez, Jr., Ivy Chan, Jen Gill, Kathy Pham, Mikie Giusti

Back Row (from left): David Deatherage, Dale Gill, Yuriy Kolotovsky, Benjamin Ripman, Pelham Keahey, Thu Lam, Wesley Fry, Linda Rakow, James Hutchinson, Gita Viswanaathan

Not pictured: Ole Petersen

'Well Time' Opens Eight Hours of Sick Time for BeWell Activities

If you've been delaying signing up for the BeWell@Stanford program because you don't have the time, here's your chance.

Beginning January 1, eligible full-time employees of Stanford University—including full-time staff at SLAC—will be able to use eight hours of accrued sick time per year to participate in the BeWell Employee Incentive Program. Part-time employees will be eligible for time based on their full-time equivalent status. Employees should get advance approval from their supervisors to use those hours, called Well Time. The time can be used to:

  • Take the Stanford Health and Lifestyle Assessment, which assesses health and lifestyle
  • Participate in a health screening and wellness coaching session to solidify behavior changes with one-on-one support
  • Create a personal wellness plan online, using information gained from the SHALA and BeWell health screening results
  • Participate in any "BeWell Berry" activities

For more details, see the Well Time FAQ. Questions should be directed to the BeWell @ Stanford team.

Read more in the Stanford Report...

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