March 2006 Archives

Extremely sharp focusing of hard X-rays has been achieved with a device called a Multilayer Laue Lens (MLL), recently developed at Argonne National Laboratory in the United States. The device consists of a stack of alternating layers of metal and silicon, made by depositing progressively thicker layers. The main idea is that the structure can work as a linear zone plate for X-rays. The device has an ability to focus the X-rays with an energy level of 19.5 keV to 30 nm, which is almost the smallest beam size for hard X-rays. Promising applications for a better X-ray lens would be in full-field and/or scanning probe microscopy. For more information, see the paper, "Nanometer Linear Focusing of Hard X Rays by a Multilayer Laue Lens", H. C. Kang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 127401 (2006)

The VUV-FEL (free-electron laser) at DESY in Hamburg is the world's first and, until 2009, the only source of intense laser radiation in the ultraviolet and the soft X-ray range. Since the official start in August 2005, a total of 14 research groups working on cluster physics, solid-state physics, plasma research and biology have carried out the first experiments. The 300 m long facility generated laser flashes with a wavelength of 32 nm for the first time in January 2005, which is the shortest wavelength ever achieved with a free-electron laser. The light flashes are shorter than 50 femto seconds, and this allows scientists to trace various processes on extremely short time scales by taking time-resolved "snapshots" of the reaction process. For more information, visit http://www.xfel.net/en/index.html