Making the most of synchrotrons

A common goal in research into photon sources is to produce radiation that is brighter and more coherent than that from existing sources, or radiation that comes in shorter pulses or with shorter wavelengths. This applies equally to the smallest lasers and the largest synchrotron-radiation sources. Significant progress in two of these directions has been reported recently by groups based at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, and at the Advanced Light Source at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US.