FLASH achieves 6.5nm wavelength

FLASH, which is the European free-electron laser (FEL) facility located in DESY's campus in Hamburg, recently achieved a world first by generating flashes of laser light at the wavelength of 6.5 nm, which is much shorter than the previous record of 13.5 nm that the same facility established one year ago. During the past several months, the linear accelerator (260 m) has been extended by a further 12 m by installing the 6th superconducting module. This has enabled the acceleration of the electron beam up to 1 GeV, the designed energy. The FLASH facility has been available for user experiments since August 2005. Until 2009, it will be the only facility in the world that can provide FEL in the soft X-ray region. The next user run will begin in mid-November this year and last 13 months. The international expert committee has already selected 32 projects. The present 6.5 nm soft X-ray laser will be used for the experiments. For further information, contact Petra Folkerts, Phone: +49 40-8998-4977, Fax: +49 40-8998-2020, presse@desy.de, http://www.xfel.eu