Scientists at the Duke University FreeElectron Laser Laboratory brought a new electron storage ring on line in record time late last year. The oval ring, 300 feet in circumference, was well on the way to the design goal of 1.3 billion electronvolts. Laboratory director John M. J. Madey told Laser Focus World that energy had reached 1040 MeV and beam current had been increased tenfold to 12 mA. Storage rings normally require considerable fine tuning, so Madey was pleased when the electron beam circulated around the complete ring on the first try. The ring is now generating shortwavelength synchrotron radiation.
Fiberoptic sensors operate inside Southern California Edison power plant boiler