Start of 2nd Measuring Period at FLASH

View of the FLASH experimental hall

View of the FLASH experimental hall

After the positive results of the first measuring period, the – mostly external – users of DESY’s new free-electron laser FLASH (formerly VUV-FEL) are starting today into the second measuring period. From August 2005 to March 2006, a total of 14 research groups from ten countries carried out first experiments using the intense laser flashes with a wavelength of 32 nanometers (nm, billionths of a meter).

“Both the external research groups and the DESY teams – which were all of them very motivated and eager to start working with the new machine – ventured into uncharted terrain and were able to gain valuable experience,” DESY research director Jochen Schneider resumes. “The first experiments have already delivered excellent results. We will strive to continue this very successful start of experiments at FLASH in the second measuring period with 16 user groups.”

FLASH is the worldwide first and until 2009 the only free-electron laser at which experiments with intense, pulsed laser radiation can be carried out at wavelengths between 100 and 6 nm.