SLAC

Capturing atomic images via ultrafast X-ray pulses

Particle acceleration has been the focus of research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center since the early 1960s, but a relatively new project at the U.S. Department of Energy facility at Stanford University called the Linac Coherent Light Source ( LCLS) is giving scientists a unique opportunity to capture images of single molecules. With the use of microwaves, electrons are accelerated along a two-mile path where they are oscillated back and forth, generating radiation and ultrafast X-ray flashes that capture images of molecular events with a "shutter speed" of less than 100 femtoseconds. Creating these molecular movies of … Read more