Magnetic trick triples the power of SLAC’s X-ray laser

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have discovered a way to triple the amount of power generated by the world’s most powerful X-ray laser. The new technique, developed at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), will enable researchers to observe the atomic structure of molecules and ultrafast chemical processes that were previously undetectable at the atomic scale.

The results, published in a Jan. 3 study in Physical Review Letters (PRL), will help address long-standing mysteries about photosynthesis and other fundamental chemical processes in biology, medicine and materials science, according to the researchers.

“LCLS produces the world’s most powerful X-ray pulses, which scientists use to create movies of atoms and molecules in action,” said Marc Guetg, a research associate at SLAC and lead author of the PRL study. “Our new technique triples the power of these short pulses, enabling higher contrast.”