The Department of Energy has given the green light for construction to begin on a high-energy upgrade that will further boost the performance of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s most powerful X-ray free-electron laser. This transformative upgrade will open new avenues for scientific discovery and innovation across multiple disciplines.
Unlocking the Atomic Scale
This higher-energy upgrade, LCLS-II-HE, will double the energy of particles in the electron beam from the accelerator and increase tenfold the power maximum to X-ray beamline instruments at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) – bringing 3,000 times brighter X-rays for hard X-rays.
This unique capability will enable researchers to observe the atomic-level motions of materials, chemical systems, and biological complexes with unequaled accuracy. This opens the door for researchers to investigate key questions in energy storage, catalysis, biology, materials science, and quantum physics by enabling them to make discoveries that could help tackle some of our most pressing societal issues.
Changing the Scientific Borders
The improvement brought by the LCLS-II-HE upgrade will be paradigm-shifting for the scientific mission of the DOE’s Basic Energy Sciences program and a wide range of other applications within the scientific community. This will be an order of magnitude more X-ray pulses per second compared to the current MAX IV storage ring, providing a wealth of high-quality data that can be used to improve the models and quickly advance science.
This improved ability to produce data will lead to developments in machine learning and AI, such as predictive modeling, autonomous experimentation, and the discovery of new algorithms which will improve the analysis of data from a broad range of scientific domains. From energy and the environment to manufacturing and human health, the LCLS-II-HE upgrade will deliver game-changing instruments that provide a clear view of the atomic and molecular world needed to make powerful discoveries.
Conclusion
The LCLS-II-HE upgrade is the next biggest leap forward in X-ray free-electron laser science with an anticipated boost that will be unmatched by any other X-ray laser and that brings together scientific discovery to a new horizon. The transformational project will enable researchers to investigate the atomic-scale details that govern such complex phenomena and open avenues to advancing energy, materials, biology, and more so that it underpins a sustainable and creative future.
