The excitement builds, challenges grow
Monday, November 03, 2008
I’m off to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility for several reviews including their upgrade plans. The plane affords time to read and when I opened my computer I saw a previous blog that reminded me I’m overdue.
The ESRF is looking to upgrade its facility through new optics, detectors and improvements to the accelerator, but when taken in light of the LCLS turn on next summer, the excitement just doesn't feel the same. Recent commissioning results for the LCLS electron beam has boosted anticipation as the LCLS team now has the baseline beam quality that would produce gigawatt levels of 1.5 Å X-rays from an ideal undulator. And these pulses are not just one here one there, but over days. At the same time the accelerator team is investigating new operating points. Most recently, with low charge (20 picocoulombs) they have produced electron bunches that would produce 2 femtosecond pulses at 1.5 Å with ~1 x 1011 photons. So every time we focus on capabilities and plans for first X-ray experiments our horizons are changed and experimental challenges increased: timing an external pump laser to an X-ray pulse of these parameters now must be on the femtosecond time scale, and the optical pump laser would ideally be, at most, a few cycles. We could start to dream of looking now at both atom and electron dynamics. These ideas further challenge us as we are getting close to procuring transform-limited pulses at 1.5 nm and with X-ray optics extending to 0.15 nm. My only problem is keeping pace with the potential and keep focused on the things we have proposed up to now. All this brings into focus the need to develop the X-ray optical tool kit to manipulate the pulses, to dream of coherent control in the hard X-ray region, and to conceive of experiments that would utilize a transform-limited pulse at 1.5 Å. This also brings me to my fear; we will not be able to keep pace with the accelerator developments as we start our experimental program and stay focused on getting results rather than constantly looking to the future. I can’t wait for the chance to see the first X-rays next summer and start the adventure of a the revolutionary science LCLS will bring. posted by Jerry Hastings @ 9:30am
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