At the Cutting Edge of Bright Beams: The NSLS Source Development Lab (432nd Brookhaven Lecture)

Inspired by the discoveries with synchrotron light at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) and similar facilities around the world, researchers are looking for more brilliant beams of light. To develop this next-generation of light sources, accelerator physicists at the NSLS Source Development Laboratory (SDL) make use of a magnesium photocathode irradiated by ultraviolet laser light to produce electron beams of unprecedented brightness. As Murphy will describe in his talk, he and fellow researchers have developed various techniques to catch molecules and atoms in action. In one recent study, the researchers used a laser to control the pulse duration of light from a free-electron laser (FEL), a type of light source with a potential peak brightness up to one billion times higher than that of ordinary synchrotron light. In another technique, Murphy and his colleagues generated extremely short pulses of terahertz radiation that are the highest intensity of their type ever produced.