The group was given an initial 40 minute presentation by Dr Mike Dunne describing the history of SLAC and the introduction in 2009 of LCLS. The initial development of SLAC required some novel thinking and a significant leap in the physics of the day in order to make the accelerator a reality. This included the construction of a freeway bridge over the accelerator for the future I280!
A view of SLAC from the air with a bridge waiting for a freeway to be built!
Since its 2009 launch, LCLS has drawn researchers in a wide array of scientific fields from around the globe to explore the innermost workings and properties of common and exotic materials at the nanoscale. The LCLS produces the world’s brightest X-ray pulses. Like a high-speed camera with an incredibly bright flash, it takes X-ray snapshots of atoms and molecules at work, revealing fundamental processes in materials, technology and living things. These snapshots can be strung together into movies that show chemical reactions as they happen.
Dr Dunne presenting planned updates to LCLS.
On the tour of the facility, the group took in the Klystron gallery which sits atop the beamline that was the longest building in the United States until the building of the LIGO laboratory. Looking down the gallery, it is not possible to see the end of it some 2 miles away!
The tour group looking down the length of the Klystron gallery.
The final portion of the tour took in the Near Experimental Hall and the Far Experimental Hall. These buildings house the 7 instruments used for conducting experiments on LCLS. They are:
The XCS instrument.
It is safe to say, that everyone learned a lot about the LCLS and really enjoyed their time at the facility.
A big thank you to Dr Dunne and his colleague Alan Fry for taking the time to give us an insight to the world class physics performed at SLAC as well as Samira Baradaran for helping to organize the event.