FLASH – an ultrafast probe for molecular and materials science

by Markus Gühr (DESY)

Thursday 19 Oct 2023, 11:00 → 13:00 UTC

The free-electron laser FLASH at DESY delivers femtosecond long pulses of light from the vacuum ultraviolet to the soft x-ray domain at an average repetition rate of 5kHz. Pulses from the free electron laser can be split and delayed and combined with other sources such as optical lasers and an undulator THz source to perform ultrafast time-resolved experiments. The FLASH facility allows for a large variety of experiments from different science disciplines and offers specially tailored combinations of beamlines and experimental instrumentation. In my talk, I will present an overview of the current research program at FLASH with examples from condensed matter and molecular science. I will show, how the short-wavelength radiation of FLASH allows to deduce site- and element specific information on electron dynamics. FLASH is currently undergoing an upgrade within the FLASH2020+ project, which will result in an externally seeded FEL source at high repetition rate. I will talk about the different advantages and opportunities related to this new light source.