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Lazer technology

Ultraviolet upset

Nature volume 420, pages 467–468 (2002)Cite this article

The free-electron laser will be a source of intense, short-wavelength radiation for a range of applications, including biological imaging. The first results from a prototype have already thrown up a surprise.

On page 482 of this issue, Wabnitz et al.1 report on the first experiments with the free-electron laser at the TESLA test facility at DESY, Germany's high-energy physics research centre in Hamburg. They have seen unexpectedly strong absorption of the laser radiation by atomic clusters, resulting in ejection of high-energy ions. Such a highly nonlinear optical interaction between light and matter at ultraviolet wavelengths has never been seen before, and these fascinating results show the potential of this new class of intense short-wavelength lasers for scientific investigation.

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Figure 1: The planned layout of the TESLA free-electron laser facility.

DESY

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309-440, Colorado, USA

    Henry C. Kapteyn

  2. Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1600, Austin, 78712, Texas, USA

    Todd Ditmire

Authors
  1. Henry C. Kapteyn
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  2. Todd Ditmire
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Kapteyn, H., Ditmire, T. Ultraviolet upset. Nature 420, 467–468 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/420467a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/420467a

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