The Attochamber: from laboratory to Nobel Prize Museum
Last week, Thorsten Naeser, Dr. Veit Ziegelmaier and cameraman Géza Morossy from the Attoworld PR Department visited the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm for film and photo documentation centered on the historic “Attochamber” experiment. In 2001, Professor Ferenc Krausz and his team used this experimental setup to generate attosecond light pulses for the first time, laying the foundation for modern attosecond physics. This field enables the detection of electron motion, the fastest motion occurring outside the atomic nucleus. For these achievements, Ferenc Krausz, together with Anne L’Huillier and Pierre Agostini, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics.
A central part of the visit was the filming of a statement by Ulf Larsson, Chief Curator of the Nobel Prize Museum. He emphasized the special significance of the Attochamber for the museum, describing it not only as a milestone in scientific discovery, but also as a symbol of curiosity, creativity and the courage to explore entirely new scientific territory.
The Attochamber displayed at the museum is a faithful reconstruction containing several original components from the historic experiment. It has been included in the permanent collection of the Nobel Prize Museum and is accompanied by a film presenting current developments in attosecond research, including potential applications in the early medical diagnosis of serious diseases.
Particularly striking is the placement of the Attochamber within the exhibition space. Scientific and historical documents related to Albert Einstein are displayed nearby, linking early milestones of modern physics with today’s developments in the field.
During the visit, the museum was very well attended, and interest in the Attochamber was clearly noticeable. Many people spent time observing the experimental setup and watching the accompanying film. The visit highlighted the role of the historic Attochamber as part of the museum’s efforts to make modern scientific research accessible to a broad international audience.
