![]() “We are not answering only a few questions with the new superconducting accelerator, we are letting scientists answer an incredible number of questions,” SLAC electronics engineering manager Andy Benwell said. The brighter, more rapid bursts of X-rays will allow scientists to tackle challenges such as understanding how to adapt natural solutions for harvesting solar energy for a new generation of clean fuels, inventing sustainable manufacturing methods for industry, and designing a new generation of drugs based on the ability to create molecular movies of how our bodies respond to disease. The facility will release one million X-ray flashes per second, far more than LCLS’s current rate of 120 flashes per second. LCLS-II will produce X-rays that are 10,000 times brighter than those of SLACs existing free-electron laser facility, LCLS – a historic upgrade that will open previously unimaginable views into some of the most pressing scientific questions of our time. In 2019, teams installed a state-of-the-art electron gun, while last year, crews turned on a helium cooling plant that brings the temperature of the facility down to two kelvins – colder than outer space. ![]() ![]() To send electrons through the facility, crews from four national laboratories – Argonne, Berkeley Lab, Fermilab, and Jefferson Lab – and Cornell University, worked together for close to 10 years to build all of the facility’s next-generation components. (Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) SLAC staff prepare for the first batch of electrons inside the superconducting accelerator. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |