3:30–4:30 pm
Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture Hall
Kersten Physics Teaching Center
Room 106
5720 S. Ellis Avenue
X-ray Free-Electron Lasers: Past, Present and Future
Zhirong Huang, Stanford University
The world’s first hard X-ray Free Electron Laser (FEL), Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), started its operation 10 years ago at SLAC and opened a new era of ultrafast X-ray science. The success of the LCLS inspired the worldwide development of X-ray FELs. At the present moment, LCLS is undergoing a major upgrade to provide significant enhancement in its capability. In this talk, I will describe the physical mechanism and characteristics of X-ray FELs, present some of the most exciting results in LCLS, and discuss R&D challenges for future opportunities.