SwissFEL

SwissFEL is the new X-ray free-electron laser facility currently under construction at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland. It is scheduled to begin operations in 2016.^[1] X-ray free-electron lasers generate intense, rapid pulses of X-ray light suitable for a variety of scientific research, including chemistry, material science, and studies of macromolecular structure.

Design

The SwissFEL design aims to produce laser pulses covering the wavelength range 1 Å to 70 Å. Each pulse is just 1 to 60 femtoseconds in duration, allowing extremely fast reactions and processes to be investigated.

The facility is 740 meters long. It houses four main assemblies:

• The injector, which provides a source of electrons
• The linear accelerator, which accelerates the electrons to nearly the speed of light in dense packets^[2]
• An undulator, which causes the electrons to emit X-rays in intense, coherent packets
• Two experimental halls, where the beam is focused onto the experimental sample and data is collected from an X-ray detector

The design is, with a total length of just under 740 meters, relatively compact and therefore affordable on the scale of a national laboratory. Construction is expected to cost 275 million Swiss francs, mostly provided by the Swiss federal government.^[1]

Due to its location in the Würenlingen forest, special care was given to minimize the impact of SwissFEL on the local environment. Much of the completed facility will be covered by soil and gravel. The accelerator tunnel will include a buried section to allow wildlife to cross from one side of the facility to the other.

Construction

Construction began in April, 2014, in the Würenlingen forest in Switzerland, adjacent to the Paul Scherrer Institute.^[3]

Two test facilities were built for SwissFEL, in order to develop new technologies and to test theoretical predictions and simulations. The first test facility, the Low Emittance Gun (LEG) has been in operation since Spring 2009. The SwissFEL injector test facility was officially inaugurated on the 24th of August 2010.

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Overview: SwissFEL – the new large-scale facility at the Paul Scherrer Institute". Paul Scherrer Institute. Archived from the original on 17 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014. 
2. ↑ "The SwissFEL facility: the linear accelerator". Paul Scherrer Institute. Retrieved 17 September 2014. 
3. ↑ "Beginning of construction in the Würenlingen forest". Paul Scherrer Institute. Retrieved 17 September 2014. 

External links

• SwissFEL website
• Current issues SwissFEL
• Inauguration SwissFEL injector test facility 24.08.2010
• Time schedule SwissFEL
• Consortium of national Free Electron Lasers in Europe (EuroFEL), funded by the European commission under FP7.
• PSI Bericht 09-10 Ultrafast Science at the Nanoscale: Science opportunities at the SwissFEL X-ray Laser.
• PSI Bericht 10-04 SwissFEL Conceptual Design Report
• PSI Bericht 10-05 SwissFEL Injector Conceptual Design Report: accelerator test facility for SwissFEL
• Brochure “SwissFEL Brilliant Prospects”