Commissioning of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at SLAC began on 5 April when physicists and engineers started up the electron-injector system for the first time, and created and accelerated a bunch of electrons. This injector is the first stage in a free-electron X-ray laser that will use the last kilometre of SLAC’s 3 km linac to accelerate electrons before they pass through an undulator magnet and emit X-rays of 800 eV – 8 keV.
Image credit: SLAC.
In the injector facility at Sector 20, a drive laser initiates the process by sending a short burst of UV light to a radio-frequency (RF) gun. The RF gun not only creates a precisely shaped bunch of electrons but also gives the electrons their initial accelerating boost with microwaves. Once they enter the linac, the bunches will pass through compressors that pack them into even shorter bunches before they ultimately pass through the undulator.
