First images of the European XFEL beam
At European XFEL scientists use intense X-rays to take pictures of the smallest particles imaginable. The European XFEL X-ray beam is a billion times brighter than other traditional X-ray sources, but since X-rays are invisible to the naked eye, it is not usually possible to see the X-ray beam. Working together with a professional photographer, scientists at the largest X-ray laser in the world located in Schenefeld near Hamburg, have now managed to capture an image of the intense European XFEL X-ray beam. The pictures were taken as the X-ray beam entered the experiment area in the FXE instrument hutch at the end of a journey that started in a 3.4km long underground tunnel.
On the images published today, the X-ray beam appears as a thin blue stripe. What we are actually seeing, however, is glowing nitrogen molecules which the X-ray beam has caused to light up as it travels through the air thereby interacting with the molecules.
>Read more on the European XFEL website
Image: The European XFEL beam.
Credit: European XFEL