Jul 29 2010
Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have examined the effect of XFEL (X-ray free electron laser) on materials, for the first time. The scientists made use of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source) facility to probe nitrogen gas at maximum of 8 keV X-ray energies, which is the highest X-ray energy applied at an X-ray free electron laser.
The pulse-energy detector, which is based on photoluminescence, enabled the scientists to examine the interaction between the XFEL beam and the nitrogen gas. The study will change the understanding of materials science, physics, and chemistry. The light from XFEL is immensely fast and bright at 8 keV, helping the scientists to confirm the simulations using the nitrogen gas.
The LCLS has a free-electron laser as its core. This laser generates high-energy, coherent X-ray beams that are brighter than other X-ray sources by a billion times. The beams are much brighter because of the coherence phenomenon, in which all photons in the X-ray beam act together.
LCLS also has a femto-camera that can arrange ultra small images sequentially. The light pulses emitted from the fourth-generation LCLS last only for quadrillionths of a second. The short light beam allows capturing the molecular and atomic behavior, by offering an X-ray strobe light.
Stefan Hau-Riege, scientist from the Livermore Laboratory, stated that the experiment was conducted upstream from LCLS mirrors, which gave them access to the entire LCLS X-ray energy range.