The Technology Centre (FMI and Electronics) and MassSpecpecD bv have contributed to this groundbreaking scientific research and field with their Amsterdam Piezo Valve.
In 2007, Maurice Janssen, then head of the Physical Chemistry (FC) group in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, began developing a new pulsed gas valve, together with his doctoral students, instrument maker Rob Kortekaas, and electronics expert Han Voet.
Around 2007, Janssen's FC group had established an advanced femtosecond coincidence laboratory, equipped with a laser system generating laser pulses at a repetitive frequency of 5 kHz. These short laser pulses were used for photochemistry research on molecules introduced into a vacuum apparatus through a molecular beam. It was crucial to have the molecules in the setup only at the moment of the laser pulse, hence the need for a gas valve capable of generating very short gas pulses at a high repeat rate (up to 5 kHz). A piezo-based valve system was successfully developed, later named the Amsterdam Piezo Valve (APV). The potential of the new valve was soon recognized in Janssen's academic field, and after discussions, the Technology Centre began producing the valve for other academic groups worldwide. In the fall of 2009, the first commercial valve was sold to the University of Oxford, UK.
In 2015, Janssen left VU and founded his company on the High Tech Campus of the University of Twente, Enschede. There was still a high demand for the systems, and together with the Technology Centre, it was decided to serve the global market through www.amsterdampiezovalve.com and jointly develop new applications.
In 2017, Janssen applied for a tender for 11 APV systems for the newly established ELI-ALPS Laser Institute in Szeged, Hungary. ELI-ALPS had required in the tender that the valve could be controlled over long distances and operated at a 20kVolt bias voltage. Electronics expert Mario Molenaar took on this challenge, and the result was the fully digital EDU5 driver unit with fiber-optic computer control and precise timing. The EDU5 was introduced at a scientific conference in 2017 with great success, and the 11 ELI-ALPS systems were delivered in early 2018.
Meanwhile, Pierre Agostini's group at Ohio State University had become highly interested in the APV for their research using attosecond pulses (1 attosecond = 10—18 sec). After extensive communication with Janssen, a system was delivered in 2018. A year later, an APV system was shipped for a new 3 kHz attosecond beamline at Anne L’Hullier's Atomic Physics Laser Lab in Lund.
With these extremely short light pulses, you can investigate various ultrafast processes in physics and chemistry, particularly the rapid movements of electrons and the dynamics induced by them. It's like creating a camera with an incredibly short shutter speed, allowing you to "capture" ultrafast processes sharply.
It is a great honor and privilege for the Technology Centre and Maurice Janssen of MassSpecpecD bv that their unique piezo valve systems play a significant role in generating attosecond light pulses in the labs of both Pierre Agostini and Anne L’Huillier.
More information about the Amsterdam Piezo Valve can be found at www.tec4science.com and www.amsterdampiezovalve.com, where various publications on the applications of APV systems, including attosecond research, are available.