Introduction and project overview

The whole report issued by the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland takes a look at the scientific opportunities offered by the institute's SwissFEL X-ray Laser facility. In this second part, the use of this Swiss national X-ray Laser facility for the examination of ultra-fast phenomena at the nano scale is discussed. The SwissFEL X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) will allow in-depth investigation of matter in motion. Operating as a flash camera, it will take snapshots on extremely short length and time scales. The SwissFEL is to help understand and optimise processes of direct relevance to society, for example in clean energy production and pollution abatement, high-performance information technology, and the vital biochemical functions of living cells. The SwissFEL is to enable the capture of several processes for the first time, in action, and at the molecular level. The SwissFEL has a number of unique features which distinguish it from other X-ray FEL projects. The principal scientific areas of investigation to be covered by the SwissFEL have been identified in close consultation with Swiss research groups. A series of workshops was held on a range of disciplines. The SwissFEL design is based on an electron accelerator, consisting of a high-brightness electron gun, a booster, three sections of linear accelerator and two bunch compressors. The project organisation is reviewed