SACLA Sets Record

In Japan, RIKEN, a research institute based in Wako, and Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute in Hyogo have announced the successful production of a beam of x-ray laser light with a wavelength of 1.2 Å, the shortest ever measured. The light was created using SACLA, an x-ray free-electron laser facility unveiled by RIKEN in February 2011 in Harima. SACLA, or Spring-8 Angstrom Compact free-electron LAser, opens a window into the structure of atoms and molecules at a level of detail never seen before, according to RIKEN.