Romania joins the laser technology elite: construction of the High Power Optics Center in Măgurele has begun

The construction works of the High Power Optics Center in Măgurele (Ilfov), a strategic infrastructure that will expand the capabilities of the Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), have officially begun. The investment, financed by the Romanian Government through the Ministry of Development and implemented by the National Investment Company, exceeds 190 million lei and will transform Romania into one of the few countries capable of producing and repairing high power optics for top lasers worldwide.

The center is being built in cooperation with two partners of excellence from Japan, Okamoto Optics and Osaka University, a country recognized for its rigorous standards and cutting-edge technologies. The final beneficiary is the National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering "Horia Hulubei". The Minister of Development, Cseke Attila, emphasized the unique nature of the investment and its strategic impact: "The center will be the fifth such center in the world. Romania takes its place alongside Japan, the United States and France among the countries contributing to expanding the frontiers of knowledge in the field of laser systems.” The construction should be completed in a maximum of 19 months.

The Japanese Ambassador to Bucharest, Takashi Katae, noted the positive dynamics of bilateral relations and conveyed that the export of optical components manufactured in Măgurele to Japan is a realistic objective in the near term. Hubert Thuma, President of the Ilfov County Council, spoke about the ambition of transforming the county into a national technological pole: "We want to transform Ilfov into an oasis of technology in Romania.” ELI-NP hosts the most powerful laser system ever built. Its operation requires special, extremely sensitive optical components, the production of which is expensive and takes a long time if purchased from abroad. The new center will change this situation. According to the Ministry of Development: the optics will be able to be manufactured and finished locally, the costs and duration of transportation will decrease considerably, the availability of components will increase the scientific and application capacity of the experiments at ELI-NP. "Romania has the most powerful laser system in the world. There was a need for a center that would provide high-power optics and develop the technology necessary for efficient operation," explained Cseke Attila. The center will be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies for: high-precision micromechanics, nanometric finishing of optical surfaces, fine grinding with special water-sand emulsions, interferometry for inspection, final depositions with ultra-thin films, assembly and verification in dedicated chambers.

It will be able to produce and repair large and very large optical components - mirrors, lenses, essential for the operation of high-power lasers. The infrastructure will also be compatible with standard optical components, opening the possibility of entering a global market estimated at billions of dollars. The new center will bring major benefits: it reduces the costs of experiments at ELI-NP, increases the number of possible experiments, strengthens Romania's role in international research networks, opens export markets in Asia, Europe and the USA, attracts new partnerships and investments. Romania thus becomes one of the few countries with the technological capacity necessary for the manufacture of high-power laser optics, a highly specialized field.