Design of the Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility that recently started its construction in Shanghai's Zhangjiang area. [Photo/WeChat account: zhangjiangfabu]

The Zhangjiang Comprehensive National Scientific Center in Shanghai will become an international photon scientific research hub with the landing of a series of cutting-edge related scientific facilities, Pudong Times reported on Dec 20.

The recent arrival is the Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility, co-built by the ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics of CAS.

Once the construction of the facility is completed, it will become one of the world's most effective and advanced free electron laser facilities. It can be used for multiple subjects including physics, chemistry, life science, material science, and energy science and provide cutting-edge research methods such as high-resolution imaging, ultrafast process exploration, and advanced structural analysis.

Additionally, the Shanghai Superintense-Ultrafast Lasers Facility that arrived in Zhangjiang in December 2016 made great progress on Oct 24, achieving the goal of delivering 10-petawatt lasers.  

Ultra-intense ultra-fast lasers, also known as the brightest light known to man, are capable of creating extreme physical conditions that rarely exist in the universe.

This achievement is of great significance to the research in fields of superfast chemistry, attosecond science, material science, laser fusion, nuclear physics and nuclear medicine, and astrophysics.

Many countries around the world such as France and UK are investing heavily in developing facilities capable of delivering 10-petawatt lasers.

Zhangjiang is also home to the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility and the Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility. Those facilities will help the area develop into a photon scientific research highland.