Seminar Series

Dr. Chi-Chang Kao — SLAC

June 18th, 2026

8:00 AM Pacific / 11:00 AM Eastern / 5:00 PM Europe

Abstract:

Over the last decade, X-ray FEL with its high peak power and femtosecond time resolution has opened many new exciting research directions, from ultrafast chemical dynamics to high energy density science. The advent of high repetition X-ray FEL, enabled by superconducting accelerator technology, has pushed the average spectral brightness of x-ray FEL orders of magnitude higher than storage rings. One of the promising uses of this spectral brightness is high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering. In this talk, I will first introduce inelastic x-ray scattering and illustrate the types of elementary excitations in condensed matter that can be studied with inelastic x-ray scattering. It will be followed by a summary of developments in FEL that are critical to the increase in spectral brightness, specifically self-seeding and cavity-based x-ray FEL. Finally, I will discuss a few potential scientific opportunities in using inelastic x-ray scattering offered by this spectral brightness, and how the scientific community and large user facilities can work together to further define the science case and develop the necessary instrumentation to realize this unique scientific capability and opportunity.