According to reports, as the world’s first X-ray laser facility, the European X-ray free electron laser device has launched the first laser pointer pulse, which is also the last important milestone before it is officially put into use in September.
The device is installed in a facility with a total length of 3.4 kilometers, which is mostly located in an underground tunnel. The wavelength of this X-ray laser pulse is 0.8 nm, which is about 500 times shorter than the wavelength of visible light. The repetition frequency of the first laser pulse emission is 1 pulse per second, after which it will increase to 27,000 pulses per second.
This is an important testimony of our efforts with our partners for many years. European XFEL produced the first X-ray laser. This facility, which was jointly researched by Germany and 11 other European countries, finally passed its first large-scale test. Colleagues participating in the European XFEL and DESY projects and our international partners have also made outstanding achievements. This is also a great success for European and global scientific cooperation. We can now guide the X-ray of the special mirror to the laboratory through the last tunnel, and then gradually start the commissioning of the experimental station. I very much look forward to the official launch in September this year. ”
The X-ray laser produced by European XFEL is more intense than the traditional synchrotron light source, which is 1 billion times its brightness. The above-mentioned achievable green laser pointer wavelengths are consistent with the size of atoms, which means that X-rays can be used to generate nanocosmos (eg biomolecule) images with atomic resolution to better understand the causes of diseases or develop new therapies.
Other application opportunities include research on chemical processes and catalytic technologies with the goal of improving their efficiency or making them more environmentally friendly; and researching materials or conducting investigations on the internal structure of similar planets. XFEL X-ray lasers in Europe are generated by electron beams from superconducting accelerators (a key component of X-ray lasers).