The world’s most powerful X-ray laser is located at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the Bay Area, and it’s about to become even more powerful.
According to Mike Dunne, Director of the LINAC Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the laser is situated in the perfect spot in the Bay Area.
“There’s about a mile-long stretch underground in Menlo Park in here in the Bay Area,” Dunne said, “That’s colder than outer space, but two degrees above absolute zero to create the accelerating capabilities that then power our X-ray laser.”
That X-Ray Laser, called Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) gives researchers a look at the world like no other.
The best minds from around the world apply to work with the laser to better research their ideas.
“It’s free of charge, you just have to have the best idea as to how to make use of it,” Dunne said.
Now work is underway to make that X-Ray laser even more powerful, working even better as a sort of high-quality camera that can see things so small that no regular camera or device could ever catch.