Laboratory for Advanced Photonics (LAP)

The Laboratory for Advanced Photonics is responsible for the design and the realisation of novel schemes for Insertion Devices, Optics, Photon Diagnostics and Instrumentation for the Swiss Light Source (SLS) as well as for the Swiss X-ray Free Electron Laser (SwissFEL). In collaboration with other divisions of PSI, we coordinate new large photon science projects, such as the SLS upgrade (SLS 2.0) and the second beamline of SwissFEL Athos.

1 March 2019

Figure 1. Layout depicting the experimental conditions at the Alvra experimental station. (b) Fresnel simulation of the Talbot carpet: intensity distribution of the experimental conditions for a 1D diamond phase grating with a 200 nm pitch and 2.985 keV photon energy. The inset (c) shows the detailed structure of the interference pattern in the vicinity of the sample where the pitch is 190 nm

Towards X-ray Transient Grating Spectroscopy at SwissFEL

The high brilliance of new X-ray sources such as X-ray Free Electron Laser opens the way to non-linear spectroscopies. These techniques can probe ultrafast matter dynamics that would otherwise be inaccessible. One of these techniques, Transient Grating, involves the creation of a transient excitation grating by crossing X-ray beams on the sample. Scientists at PSI have realized a demonstration of such crossing by using an innovative approach well suited for the hard X-ray regime.

20 June 2018

Movie directors with extra roles

SwissFEL Storage Large Research Facilities

Data storage devices based on novel materials are expected to make it possible to record information in a smaller space, at higher speed, and with greater energy efficiency than ever before. Movies shot with the X-ray laser show what happens inside potential new storage media, as well as how the processes by which the material switches between two states can be optimised.

20 June 2018

MOOCs – a paradigm shift in education

In March 2018, the nine-week MOOC “Introduction to synchrotrons and x-ray free-electron lasers” (abbreviated to “SYNCHROTRONx”) came online via the edX provider of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), created by Phil Willmott of the Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute. “MOOC” is an acronym for “massive open online course”, a teaching platform started in the first decade of this century, which has become increasingly popular in the last five to six years. MOOCs have no limits to participation and are free. Some of the most popular MOOCs can attract many tens of thousands of participants. Even the most specialized subjects may have an initial enrollment of over a thousand, more than an order of magnitude larger than that typically found in traditional higher education. There were over 70 million MOOC enrollments covering nearly 10’000 subjects offered by the top five providers in 2017 alone!

30 May 2018

Hollywood in the Würenlingen woods

SwissFEL Biology Large Research Facilities

With the X-ray laser SwissFEL, researchers at PSI want to produce movies of biomolecules in action. This can reveal how our eyes function or how new drugs work.

6 April 2018

A first glance at the SwissFEL x-rays wave-front

X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) combine the properties of synchrotron radiation (short wavelengths) and laser radiation (high lateral coherence, ultrashort pulse durations). These outstanding machines allow to study ultra-fast phenomena at an atomic level with unprecedented temporal resolution for answering the most intriguing open questions in biology, chemistry and physics.

19 March 2018

Figure 2: 3 single shot spectra generated by SwissFEL

First Single-Shot SASE spectra of SwissFEL successfully measured

The team of the Laboratory for Advanced Photonics (LAP) has succeeded to perform the first set of shot-to-shot measurements of the SwissFEL generated spectrum.

17 December 2017

First Pilot Experiment at SwissFEL-Alvra: UV photo-induced charge transfer in OLED system

On the 17th of December 2017 SwissFEL saw its first pilot experiment in the Alvra experimental station of the SwissFEL ARAMIS beamline.

7 December 2017

First experiment at SwissFEL carried out successfully

Media Releases Large Research Facilities SwissFEL

The years of careful planning and construction have paid off: At the newest large-scale research facility of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI – the X-ray free-electron 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.

30 November 2017

First time resolved Pilot Experiment by SwissFEL: Semiconductor to metal transition in Ti₃O₅ nanocrystals

On the 30th of November 2017 SwissFEL saw its first time resolved pilot experiment in the Bernina experimental station of the SwissFEL ARAMIS beamline. A team of scientists from the University of Rennes, ESRF and PSI, led by Marco Cammarata (Univ. Rennes) and Henrik Lemke (PSI), successfully started the experimental phase at SwissFEL.