European XFEL researchers have generated hard-X-ray flashes lasting an estimated 300 attoseconds and focused them to a 180 × 330 nanometre spot. The facility reports a peak intensity above 1020 watts per square centimetre, a record for intensity and fluence in a hard-X-ray attosecond pulse. The result gives scientists a way to probe ultrafast electron behavior before intense radiation substantially changes a sample.
What European XFEL achieved
The experiment took place in April 2026 at the Materials Imaging and Dynamics (MID) instrument. European XFEL reported the result on 16 October 2026, identifying the underlying publication as Generation of high-fluence and high-intensity hard X-ray attosecond pulses at the European XFEL in Optica (DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.613284).
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The pulse duration was estimated at about 300 attoseconds. An attosecond is 10−18 seconds, so 300 attoseconds is 0.3 femtoseconds. That timescale is relevant to the motion of electrons in atoms and molecules, which can change long before heavier nuclei move appreciably.
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| Measurement | Reported result | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Pulse duration | About 300 attoseconds | Estimated by European XFEL for the April 2026 experiment |
| Focal spot | 180 × 330 nanometres | Focused at the MID instrument with an advanced Kirkpatrick–Baez mirror system |
| Peak intensity | More than 1020 W/cm² | Facility-reported peak value, independently checked through a copper-foil measurement |
| Record claim | World record for intensity and fluence in a hard-X-ray attosecond pulse | Claim attributed to the European XFEL team and its published report |
Why attoseconds matter for X-ray experiments
A short pulse acts like a camera shutter for events that would otherwise blur together. At roughly 300 attoseconds, the X-ray flash can interrogate electronic motion on its natural timescale. This matters because electrons determine bonding, charge transfer and the early stages of chemical change.
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Hard X-rays also penetrate matter more deeply than many lower-energy probes. Combining that penetration with an ultrashort duration and extreme intensity could let experiments observe highly nonlinear interactions between X-rays and matter. The immediate goal is not to make a movie of every electron in a molecule, but to collect information before the probe itself causes major structural or electronic changes.
How the pulse was focused to nanoscale dimensions
The beam passed through an advanced Kirkpatrick–Baez (AKB) optic. The system uses two precision mirrors arranged so that one focuses the beam vertically and the other horizontally. In this experiment, the pulse reflected four times in total before reaching the focal spot.
Focusing the pulse from the beamline into a 180 × 330 nanometre area concentrates the same ultrashort burst into a much smaller space. That concentration is essential to reaching the reported peak intensity at the sample rather than merely producing a powerful pulse upstream.
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What an AKB mirror system does
An AKB system is a pair of orthogonally focusing grazing-incidence mirrors. Each mirror corrects one dimension of the beam, allowing X-rays to be brought to a small two-dimensional focus. Surface accuracy, alignment and stability are critical: small optical errors can enlarge the spot and reduce the intensity delivered to the sample.
How researchers checked the intensity
The team used a copper foil as an independent intensity diagnostic. The hard X-rays removed electrons from deep inner shells of copper atoms. Other electrons then dropped into those vacancies and emitted characteristic X-rays.
At sufficiently high intensity, the emitted radiation stimulated additional excited copper atoms to emit in the same direction. This process, called amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), produces a directional signal rather than ordinary fluorescence spread broadly around the sample.
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The ASE signal increased rapidly with pulse energy and then saturated. That threshold-and-saturation behavior is expected only when the X-ray field is extremely intense. Anders Madsen, leader of the MID instrument group, described the change as a light cone beginning to condense into the forward direction once the ASE threshold is crossed. The observation provided an intensity check separate from the optical estimate of the focal conditions.
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The demonstrated capability is the generation, focusing and independent verification of intense hard-X-ray attosecond pulses. Researchers can use such flashes to investigate nonlinear X-ray interactions, ultrafast electronic responses and the earliest stages of radiation-driven change in materials.
Jiawei Yan, the DESY scientist who served as corresponding author, emphasized that delivering useful radiation to the sample is the practical test of the advance. The copper measurement is therefore important: it shows that the extreme conditions were present where an experiment would actually take place, not only in a source or calculation.
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Did the experiment control electrons during a chemical reaction?
No. The April 2026 demonstration did not report steering or controlling electrons in a chemical reaction. Electron control during chemistry is a longer-term possibility suggested by the short duration and intensity of the pulses, not an outcome shown in this experiment.
The near-term scientific payoff is more concrete: a probe fast enough to examine electronic behavior before radiation substantially alters the sample. Future experiments will determine which molecules, materials and reaction pathways can be studied reliably under these conditions.
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The AKB system used for the demonstration was brought from Japan. European XFEL expects delivery of a facility-owned AKB system in early 2027. After installation and commissioning, the facility intends to offer intense, short pulses to researchers using the MID instrument.
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That schedule describes planned availability, not current user access. Commissioning will have to establish routine alignment, focusing performance, diagnostics and operating procedures before the capability can become a dependable user facility.
How to interpret the record claim
The headline numbers describe different parts of the experiment. Pulse duration says how long the flash lasted; focal-spot dimensions describe where it was concentrated; peak intensity describes power delivered per unit area at the focus; and fluence concerns total energy delivered per unit area. A comparison with another ultrafast X-ray source would need all of those quantities, along with photon energy or wavelength, repetition rate and whether each figure was directly measured or independently validated.
For this result, the facility has supplied the duration estimate, focal dimensions and peak-intensity figure, while the copper-foil ASE response served as an independent check of the extreme field. No chemical-reaction control was part of the reported demonstration.
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