SwissFEL project leaders Hans Braun (left) and Luc Patthey in front of the experiment station where the first experiment took place. (Photo: Paul Scherrer Institute/Mahir Dzambegovic)
The years of careful planning and construction have paid off: At the newest large-scale research facility of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI - the free-electron X-ray laser SwissFEL - the first experiment has been carried out successfully. With that, two goals have been achieved: First, a new scientific result is already expected. Second, the interaction of the many individual components of the highly complex facility is being optimised. When the very first experiment at a new large-scale research facility succeeds, the researchers responsible have a right to feel elated. This is what took place at the end of November at the free-electron X-ray laser SwissFEL: There is a great sense of achievement for PSI. The PSI researchers, together with a research group from the University of Rennes in France, conducted the first in a series of so-called pilot experiments at SwissFEL between 27 November and 4 December 2017. The experiment had one clear scientific goal: to investigate the electrical and magnetic properties of titanium pentoxide nanocrystals.
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