Finance

Physics

Business

Electron

Current (fluid)

Free-electron laser

Laser

Engineering physics

Futures contract

Optics

Beam (structure)

Linear particle accelerator

Nuclear physics

Pulse (music)

X-ray

Free electron model

Detector

Thermodynamics

The Innovation

Linear accelerator-based free-electron lasers (FELs) are the leading source of fully coherent X-rays with ultra-high peak powers and ultra-short pulse lengths. Current X-ray FEL facilities have proved their worth as useful tools for diverse scientific applications. In this paper, we present an overview of the features and future prospects of X-ray FELs, including the working principles and properties of X-ray FELs, the operational status of different FEL facilities worldwide, the applications supported by such facilities, and the current developments and outlook for X-ray FEL-based research.

Features and futures of X-ray free-electron lasers