China to Participate in the European X-ray Laser Project XFEL

Within the framework of the meeting of the international XFEL Steering Committee in Berlin, today two representatives of the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Science and Technology signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the European X-ray laser project XFEL. "China's plan to participate in the XFEL X-ray laser project documents the great importance of the XFEL beyond European boundaries" declared the chairman of the DESY Board of Directors Professor Dr. Albrecht Wagner.

The XFEL opens up completely new possibilities for the vast field of structural research. It will generate extremely brilliant, ultra-short X-ray pulses with laser-like properties and offer entirely new research conditions for the natural sciences and industrial users. Researchers will be able to literally film molecular and atomic processes and take snapshots of the atomic details of materials and biomolecules. This will lead to fundamental insights in a wide range of natural sciences - from physics and chemistry to materials science, geological research, and the life sciences. For industrial users, the new facility will for instance provide interesting opportunities for the development of new materials in the nanoworld.

Since the beginning of 2005, apart from China, the ministries of science from Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland---by joining the Memorandum of Understanding---declared their intention to participate in the preparations for the construction and operation of the XFEL. Currently they are preparing the agreement for the foundation of a European XFEL research center; the signing of the agreement is anticipated for the coming year. Together with the Netherlands, Slovakia and the European Union, which are present as observers, the signatory countries form the international XFEL Steering Committee.

On the basis of a recommendation by the German Science Council, the German federal government decided in February 2003 to realize the planned X-ray laser XFEL (where X stands for X-ray and FEL for free-electron laser) as a European joint project at the research center DESY. This research facility, which will be unique in Europe, is to take up operation in 2012. The costs for the XFEL amount to 908 million Euro (including the estimated development of price levels until 2012). Germany (government and federal states) will bear approx. 60 percent; the rest is to be contributed by the partner countries.

Source: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)

Related stories:

Brilliantly bright light source is one step closer to reality, says scientist
(PhysOrg.com) -- A brilliantly bright light source that can examine the detail of atoms at a microscopic level is one step closer, thanks to the adoption of a Europe-wide convention, says a leading scientist from Imperial College London.
European XFEL Project Shines a New Light for Research
A colossal project called XFEL located in Germany will allow the collective sciences gain understanding of solar cells, fuel cells and watch how atoms and molecules combine.
DESY's FLASH illuminates the nano-world
Using the unique soft X-ray free-electron laser FLASH at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, an international team of scientists achieved a world first by taking a high-resolution diffraction image of a non-crystalline sample with a single extremely short and intense laser shot.
Researchers make molecules 'pose' for photograph
For anyone who has ever had trouble getting children to stand still for family photographs, consider the frustration of scientists who have always wanted to photograph isolated gas phase molecules, but they just wouldn’t hold still long enough.
First Results from DESY's New Free-Electron Laser
The first measuring period for external users at the new X-ray radiation source VUV-FEL at DESY in Hamburg (Germany) has been successfully concluded. Since its official startup in August 2005, a total of 14 research teams from ten countries have carried out first experiments using the facility’s intense laser beam.
Superconductivity for Future Particle Accelerator Project ILC
Today (August 20), the International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA) announced at a scientific conference in Beijing that the planned International Linear Collider (ILC) is to be realized in superconducting technology. This decision is of great importance for DESY and its international partners, since they developed this technology together and successfully tested it at the TESLA Test Facility (TTF) in Hamburg. The ILC is the next major project of particle physics. No decision has yet been taken on the realization and site of the facility. As the next step, particle physicists will now join forces to develop the technical design of the project as rapidly as possible.
Improving our ability to peek inside molecules
(PhysOrg.com) -- It's not easy to see a single molecule inside a living cell. Nevertheless, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are helping to develop a new technique that will enable them to create detailed high-resolution images, giving scientists an unprecedented look at the atomic structure of cellular molecules.
'Watching atoms move' is goal of powerful new X-ray sources
When excited, atoms move at impossibly small length and time scales -- too small and too fast to have been observed in years past. But as applied and engineering physics professor Joel D. Brock comments in the Feb. 2 issue of Science, a new generation of X-ray sources is allowing scientists to watch atoms move.

News discussion:

Physics news