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Mar 16, 2024

The world's ultimate X

The Linac Coherent Light Source II X-ray laser will be so fast and bright that it will allow people to create movies of atoms moving inside molecules By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan 28 December 2022 The

The Linac Coherent Light Source II X-ray laser will be so fast and bright that it will allow people to create movies of atoms moving inside molecules

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

28 December 2022

The electron gun that powers the Linac Coherent Light Source-II X-ray laser

marilyn chung/lawrence berkeley

Early in 2023, electrons flying at nearly the speed of light in a tunnel beneath California will produce the brightest X-rays ever seen on Earth, allowing us to examine atoms and molecules in unprecedented detail.

These record-breaking X-rays will be produced at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, which has upgraded its Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser to be the fastest and brightest in the world. While the LCLS produced about 100 X-ray pulses each second, LCLS-II will …

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