Valer Toșa

Valer Toșa is a Senior Researcher (R4) at Romania's National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies (INCDTIM) in Cluj-Napoca, specializing in ultrafast laser systems and numerical modeling. He leads the Laser Induced Processes research team and has managed scientific projects for over 20 years, including current EU grants extending to 2024.

Educational background:

• MSc in Physics (1979) from Babeș-Bolyai University
• PhD in Physics (1992) from Babeș-Bolyai University

His research focuses on Nonlinear Optics and Laser Physics, particularly high-order harmonic generation, attosecond pulse formation, femtosecond pulse propagation in ionizing gases, and numerical modeling of laser-matter interactions. He pioneered techniques for breaking diffraction barriers in nanofabrication using quantum optical lithography and developed ANN-based software for laser pulse reconstruction at ELI-NP. Key applications include EUV-to-soft-X-ray photonics, DNA analysis tools, and petabyte-scale optical data storage.

Publication trends emphasize ultra-high-resolution (<2nm) laser processing techniques, with his seminal 2013 work on quantum optical lithography enabling 3D nanostructures for telecommunications and medical nanorobots. Research consistently bridges theoretical modeling with industrial applications in nanofluidics, biological sensing, and advanced photonics.

Scientific awards: None documented in provided text.

As project coordinator and partner team leader, he secured major funding including EU H2020-FETOPEN (2021-2024), ELI-NP characterization projects (2020-2023), and FP7 Health grants (2009-2012). His work with University College Dublin (FACET, 2008-2011) established Europe-wide food chemical exposure monitoring, while recent projects optimize attosecond pulse generation for XUV spectroscopy. He also contributed as key expert to academic skill development initiatives at Babeș-Bolyai University.

He operates within INCDTIM's Laser Induced Processes team, utilizing advanced facilities like the TEWALAS laser system (15 TW, 30 fs pulses). Current work focuses on EUV-soft-X-ray integrated photonics for semiconductor metrology and biomedical applications, with future directions targeting keV-range radiation sources and commercialization of nanofabrication technologies.