Laser safety for the experimental halls at SLAC’s linac coherent light source (LCLS) Available to Purchase

The LCLS at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will be the world’s first source of an intense hard x-ray laser beam, generating x-rays with wavelengths of 1nm and pulse durations less than 100fs. The ultrafast x-ray pulses will be used in pump-probe experiments to take stop-motion pictures of atoms and molecules in motion, with pulses powerful enough to take diffraction images of single molecules, enabling scientists to elucidate fundamental processes of chemistry and biology. Ultrafast conventional lasers will be used as the pump. In 2009, LCLS will deliver beam to the Atomic Molecular and Optical (AMO) Experiment, located in one of 3 x-ray Hutches in the Near Experimental Hall (NEH). The NEH includes a centralized Laser Hall, containing up to three Class 4 laser systems, three x-ray Hutches for experiments and vacuum transport tubes for delivering laser beams to the Hutches. The main components of the NEH laser systems are a Ti:sapphire oscillator, a regen amplifier, green pump lasers for the oscillator and regen, a pulse compressor and a harmonics conversion unit. Laser safety considerations and controls for the ultrafast laser beams, multiple laser controlled areas, and user facility issues are discussed.