X-ray lasers: making movies with atoms

Abstract: Very recently the first hard X-ray laser started operation at 
the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford, USA. First 
experiments will start in a month. We look at the science and technology 
of these 'free- electron' lasers, and some of the exciting research 
enabled by these intense, ultrafast, X-ray lasers. 

Speaker's profile: Srinivas Krishnagopal did his PhD in accelerator 
physics from Cornell University in 1991, and worked on free-electron 
lasers at the Lawrence Berkeley Accelerator Laboratory till 1993. From 
then till 2008 he was at the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology; 
he is presently at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and concurrently, at 
the Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences. His interests include linear 
accelerators, free-electron lasers, and plasma-based accelerators. He is a 
recipient of the NS Satyamurthy Young Scientist Award of the Indian 
Physics Association, and the Outstanding Research Investigator Award of 
the Science Research Council of DAE.