W0128

Linear Accelerator Based Ultrafast X-Ray Sources: SPPS and LCLS. J. B. Hastings, SSRL, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA.

Accelerator based synchrotron radiation (SR) sources are now commonplace in the world with the USA (APS), Japan (Spring-8) and Europe (ESRF) each operating storage ring sources in the hard x-ray energy range that provide unique radiation for studies in the chemical, biological and materials sciences. These sources are critical to the understanding of complex static structures and through inelastic x-ray scattering the dynamics. They have also been applied to time resolved diffraction on the scale of the photon pulse length ~100 psec. Photon beams with all the properties of SR but with pulse lengths of ~100fsec are now available from linear accelerator based sources: the Sub-Picosecond Photon Source (SPPS) at the Stanford Linear accelerator Center (SLAC). A hard x-ray free electron laser providing unprecedented pulse intensities, full transverse coherence, and pulse lengths of ~ 100 fsec. is in the initial stages of construction: Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at SLAC. Early results from SPPS will be presented and LCLS will be described.