LCLS-II-HE “First Experiments” Meeting: AMO, Biology, and Quantum Materials, 30-31 October 2017

The LCLS-II Project now underway at SLAC represents a major advance in X-ray laser capabilities that will enable compelling new science opportunities as identified by the user community [1].

When it becomes operational in 2020 this next-generation facility will exploit advanced superconducting accelerator technology (CW-SCRF) and tunable undulators to provide ultrafast coherent X-rays in a uniformly-spaced train of pulses with programmable repetition rates of up to 1 MHz and tunable photon energies from 0.25 to 5 keV.

Looking to the future, the proposed energy upgrade of LCLS-II to 8 GeV (LCLS-II-HE) promises to open entirely new areas of science by providing X-ray energies extending beyond 12 keV to enable high repetition-rate studies of atomic, electronic, and chemical dynamics at the atomic scale.

The objective of this meeting is to convene working groups to further develop the science case for this proposed upgrade. The near-term goal is to define a series of “first experiments” that illustrate the most important science challenges that can be uniquely addressed by LCLS-II-HE. These will further guide the development of instrumentation and related plans for the upgraded facility.

[1] LCLS-II Science Opportunities Document (2015)

 Breakout Sessions AMO and Gas-Phase Chemistry:

• Fundamental molecular dynamics
• Strong-field physics
• Chemical-dynamics (imaging/scattering)

Biological Function and Structural Dynamics:

• Spontaneous (stochastic) dynamics and conformational heterogeneity
• Triggered dynamics - pump/probe, rapid mixing
• Advanced algorithms to provide new insight to biological function

Quantum Materials:

• Correlated Materials
• Low-dimensional Materials and Heterostructures
• Exotic magnetism and spin phenomena