First beam generated by the hard X-ray laser at Stanford

At the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists have observed the first beam generated by the hard X-ray laser. The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) now supplies 1.5 Å wavelength coherent hard X-ray ultra short pulses with 100 femtosecond duration. Unlike conventional lasers, which use mirrored cavities to amplify light, the LCLS is a free-electron laser, creating light using free-flying electrons in a vacuum. The LCLS uses the final third of SLAC's two-mile linear accelerator to drive electrons to high energy and through an array of undulator magnets that steer the electrons rapidly back and forth, generating a brilliant beam of coordinated X-rays. LCLS scientists used only 12 of an eventual 33 undulator magnets to generate the facility's first laser light. It is the first time that an X-ray laser has operated at such short wavelengths in the truly hard X-ray region, with such brightness and short pulses. The laser paves the way to a new way of looking at not only the structure of matter but also its dynamics. By using laser pulses of less than 100 femtosecond duration, the dynamics of chemical reactions can be caught in process, and even single molecules can be imaged. For further information, see the facility's Web page, http://home.slac.stanford.edu/pressreleases/2009/20090421.htm In Science Now Daily News, Adrian Cho wrote a comprehensive article, http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/421/2