European XFEL: From Basics of Its Operation to Scientific Highlights and Perspectives for Future Research

Smaller, faster, more intense: The X-Ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL’s) are opening up areas of research that were previously inaccessible. Using the X-ray flashes of XFEL’s, scientists are able to map the atomic details of viruses, decipher the molecular composition of cells, take three-dimensional images of the nanoworld, film chemical reactions, and study processes such as those occurring deep inside planets.

To generate the X-ray flashes, bunches of electrons are first accelerated to high energies and then directed through special arrangements of magnets (undulators). In the process, the particles emit radiation that is increasingly amplified until an extremely short and intense X-ray flash is finally created.

The world-unique feature of XFEL’s including European XFEL (EuXFEL) in Hamburg is the possibility to provide up to hundreds of thousands ultra-short flashes (200 as - 100 fs) that makes these facilities particular suitable for time-resolved X-ray absorption, photoemission, (resonance) inelastic X-ray scattering as well as diffraction and imaging studies in the range of soft, moderate and hard X-ray photons.

In this talk basics of FEL lasing will be described and the history of implementation of the European XFEL facility funded also by Polish Shareholder will be addressed. This will be followed by presenting scientic highlights recently obtained at EuXFEL as well as perspectives for further strtagic scientific developments of the facility.