Illustration

X-ray & ultrafast science

 First microscopic movies of liquids getting vaporized.

This illustration shows how an ultrabright X-ray laser pulse (orange beam) vaporizes part of a liquid jet (blue), creating umbrella-shaped films of liquid and sending shock waves through the jet (bright stripes at top and bottom). 

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Taken at SLAC, microscopic footage of exploding liquids will give researchers more control over experiments at X-ray lasers.

With their ability to penetrate matter and resolve individual atoms, X-rays and electrons are among scientists’ most useful tools for determining the structure and behavior of molecules and materials.

First microscopic movies of liquids getting vaporized by SLAC’s X-ray free-electron laser LCLS.