Commissioning Racing Forward, User Program Taking Shape
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The news was good and the mood upbeat in Panofsky Auditorium today. LCLS leaders and scientists outlined the progress so far with regard to installation and commissioning of the machine, and talked about the early stages of the new user program. Civil construction is about 90% complete.
The pace of managing the electron beam down the accelerator is outstripping many of the early estimates, according to accelerator physicist Paul Emma. One of the biggest technical hurdles has been figuring out how to stabilize the drive laser so that every pulse is near to identical, 24 hours, 7 days a week. (Lasers, apparently, have a reputation for stability issues.) But, problem solved—the timing jitter issue has been conquered by a factor of 3 over previous best estimates, and stability hovers at 99%. As for the scientific program and the nascent user organization, a call for proposals earlier this year resulted in 28 full experimental proposals involving 219 scientists. Nineteen of those proposals were for the Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) instrument, which will be the first instrument online in 2009. The other instruments will come online over the following three years. Still, even with proposals rolling in and interest and momentum building, much work remains in sorting through the who's and when's of the science program startup. The priority at first, of course, will be high-impact experiments that are less technically demanding. Fitting for a machine with such promise, but about which so little is yet known. However, according to Jochen Schneider, who leads the experimental program, the LCLS science calendar already looks rigorous, with 500 hours of experimental time scheduled by the end of next year. And when the ball really gets rolling in 2010, that number jumps to 4,000. Hopefully the palpable optimism in the meeting hall today will carry through. The first instruments haven't even been built yet, but even that is changing rapidly. John Bozek, scientist in charge of the AMO instrument, confirmed that the first pieces of the instrument are now on order. Assembly looks to begin early next year, and will be ready for the first science experiments in less than a year. posted by Brad Plummer @ 5:00pm
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