X-ray laser machines are a billion times brighter than today's machines

European countries introduced the world's most powerful X-ray laser machine capable of atomic imaging.

The world's most powerful X-ray laser machine officially went into operation in the cities of Hamburg, Germany, and BBC on September 1. With a construction cost of over $ 1.2 billion, the device called the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) will be used to study the detailed structure of atoms.

According to scientists, the way the projector shines light on the target will allow immediate capture of the moment when chemical bonds form or break down. The team hopes XFEL will help them make the basic findings paving the way for new treatments and materials.

The machine is located at a depth of 40m below the city of Hamburg.(Photo: BBC).

The machine is a superconducting linear accelerator located in a 3.4-kilometer long tunnel complex at a depth of 40 meters below the nearby city of Hamburg and the town of Schenefeld. XFEL works by speeding up the electron clusters near the speed of light, before throwing them down the chi-chi ramps controlled by a magnet system called a ripple.

When electrons turn in the direction, they emit a flash of X-rays and the particles interact with this radiation, gathering more tightly. Their compaction state not only enhances the level of glow but also provides cohesion. Basically, X-rays become homogeneous and have the characteristics of laser light.

The beam will shine through and reveal everything on its path at the atomic level, including the protein molecule in the human body or the catalyst used to produce industrial chemicals.

Many countries around the world use circular machines called synchrotrons to do the same thing. But the light emitted by XFEL is a billion times brighter than those devices. The difference of XFEL is that the machine emits bright flashes in super fast time. The machine emits a trillion photons of X-rays in a span lasting only 50 femtoseconds (0,000,000,000.05 seconds) and can repeat 27,000 times a second.

"The big expectation for XFEL is that we can photograph a single particle. You just need to put a combination of protein or virus into the light. The biological entity will spread photons so you can capture its shape." , Professor Elspeth Garman at Oxford University, England, said a member of the Hamburg time-setting committee, said.

XFEL will begin to operate under the coordination of scientists from 11 member states of the alliance. Germany is not only a country that has installed XFEL, but also provides a majority of its budget and technology. Other member countries are Russia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.