The world’s most powerful X-ray laser LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source), which has undergone a large-scale upgrade and modernization of the LCLS-II, is almost back in operation and will soon be ready to work for the benefit of modern science. . After amplification, temperatures inside this massive setup are lower than in space, accelerating electrons to velocities very close to the speed of light, producing a million very bright X-rays per second.

LCLS-II belongs to the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) type. Such lasers are used to obtain high-quality images of microscopic objects and processes that occur in a very narrow time frame. The LCLS laser has previously been used to capture the structure of viruses, recreate conditions at the center of the star’s core, convert water into high-temperature plasma, generate the loudest noise, and more.

The updated LCLS-II laser will be able to do much more for science than before. The X-ray pulses will be 10,000 times brighter on average and will be produced one million times per second as mentioned above. For comparison, the LCLS laser can produce only 120 pulses per second.

“In just a few hours, the LCLS-II laser will produce more X-ray pulses than before in all its years of operation,” said LCLS director Mike Dunne. All this should advance the respective fields of science and enable new revolutionary technologies to emerge.

The LCLS-II laser works on the same principles as the previous model. Free electrons produced by a special source are accelerated in the tube of the linear accelerator and enter the device ripple. The magnetic fields present there cause the electrons to oscillate and give off their kinetic energy in the form of X-ray quanta.

The linear acceleration stage of electrons has undergone the greatest modernization. Previously, electrons were fed into the accelerator tube at ambient temperature. Now the installation uses 37 cryomodules that pump liquid helium through heat exchangers and cool the equipment to -271 degrees Celsius. Source