The recently opened Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory (SNAL) provides scientists around the world with a brilliant new tool to understand fundamental properties of atoms and materials at previously unreachable dimensions. Its birth, however, could not have occurred without the expertise of scientists from Argonne National Laboratory.

The LCLS is a powerful example of an X-ray free-electron laser, which comprises a series of magnetic structures called undulators that provide precise magnetic fields through which an electron beam travels. Electrons are forced to oscillate back and forth as they traverse through the undulators, producing large quantities of X-rays. These then interact with the electrons that generated them, causing the electrons to bunch at particular wavelengths; this new bunch pattern dramatically boosts the intensity of the produced X-rays.

 …