Scientists have demonstrated a new method for generating and sustaining the high-quality electron beams required for X-ray lasers, a step toward making the instruments smaller and more affordable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The research was conducted by a team from the US Department of Energy\u2019s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in collaboration with TAU Systems Inc.<\/p>\n
The research centers on using compact laser plasma accelerators (LPAs) to create a stable, reliable electron beam showing strong exponential growth of radiation\u2014a requirement for an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL).<\/p>\n
1,000x faster than conventional accelerator<\/p>\n
This LPA method can generate acceleration gradients of 100 gigavolts (GeV) per meter, enabling electrons to be accelerated up to 1,000 times faster than in a conventional accelerator, which is limited to about 50 megavolts per meter. This increase in efficiency <\/a>means an accelerator that is miles long could be reduced to a scale of meters.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big result,\u201d said Sam Barber, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab\u2019s Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) Division and first author of the new study.\u00a0<\/p>\n