European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL)

Construction on the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) starts in early 2008 & commissioning of the laser is scheduled to begin in 2013.

The European XFEL will share much in common with SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), scheduled to begin operation in 2009. Both lasers will have the capability to gather images of incredibly minute structures on the atomic scale. Such fourth-generation light-sources are also expected to revolutionize our understanding of the fundamental properties of nanostructured materials and chemical reactions by enabling the study of atomic and molecular motion and events that happen on time-scales measured in quadrillionths of a second.

The European XFEL is an international joint project with a strong connection to the research center DESY in Hamburg. The performance of the XFEL will benefit a wide range of natural sciences – from physics and chemistry to materials science, geological research and the life sciences. It will also open up new perspectives for industrial users, for example for the development of new materials in the nanoworld, i.e. with dimensions measured in billionths of a meter.

The European XFEL, which is based on the superconducting accelerator technology developed at DESY in the last years, will attract scientists and students from various scientific disciplines to Northern Germany.

The 3.4-kilometer-long research facility will be located between the site of the German Electron Synchrotron DESY in the Hamburg district of Bahrenfeld and the neighboring town of Schenefeld in Schleswig-Holstein (Pinneberg district). It will begin on the DESY site, where the central supply stations will be situated. The main tunnel for the superconducting electron linear accelerator will take up the first 2.1 kilometers of the 6- to 38-meter-deep tunnel system. On the last kilometer, this tunnel will fan out into five separate tunnels in which the X-ray laser flashes will be generated. Here, the XFEL site Osdorfer Born will be erected with another access point to the tunnel and supply buildings. The underground experimental hall at the end of the facility will be located on the future 15-hectare research campus in Schenefeld, and provide space for ten experimental stations.

The XFEL (X stands for X-ray, FEL for free-electron laser) will produce high-intensity ultra-short X-ray flashes with the properties of laser light. This new light source, which can only be described in terms of superlatives, will open up a whole range of new perspectives for the natural sciences. It could also offer very promising opportunities for industrial users. The inconceivably brief and intense X-ray pulses will enable researchers to record what are essentially films with atomic resolution, for example, of how a chemical reaction progresses, how biomolecules move, or how solids are formed. This will benefit a wide range of natural sciences as well as industrial users – for instance for the development of new materials in the nanoworld; i.e., with dimensions measured in billionths of a meter.

The Leader of the European XFEL Project Team, Professor Massimo Altarelli: “The new XFEL X-ray laser facility will be unique in Europe and offer fascinating perspectives for science. For the first time, it will be possible to analyze the different states of matter on the atomic length and time scale. The future users of the XFEL expect results of fundamental importance in fields such as materials science, plasma physics, structural biology, geological research or chemistry, which could pave the way for new applications, e.g. in biomedicine and pharmacy, or for instance for the optimization of combustion and catalysis technologies.”

The planned construction costs amount to 1082 million Euros (price levels of 2005), including the costs for the preparation phase, which has now ended, and for the later test and commissioning phase. The costs for the construction of the facility and the ten experimental stations amount to 986 million Euros (price levels of 2005).