Memorandum submitted by the Head of School
of Optometry (FC 22)
1. The recent announcement by STFC to postpone
the NLS (New Light Source) project, halt the Photon Science Research
Institute and to withdraw from XFEL Hamburg will have serious
negative repercussions for UK science in the rapidly emerging
area of Free Electron Laser (FEL) research.
2. The decision on the NLS is regrettable
and the difficult financial background is the overwhelming factor
motivating this postponement of what will, inevitably be a high
cost, high return project. Nevertheless, there can be little question
that sooner or later the UK will need to build a FEL, or it will
be frozen out from future developments over a vast landscape of
light source enabled science and technology. This new class of
device promises profound scientific benefit. Moreover there is
a large potential for wide ranging economic and societal impact,
for instance, through advances in science relating to current
high profile topics such as energy science, protein structure
determination, biomedical imaging and nanotechnology. Whilst,
economically, this may not be the correct moment to move rapidly
in building the NLS, it is absolutely imperative that the UK continues
to maintain a strong presence in both FEL technology and in the
exploitation of FELs for new science complementing research with
laser and Synchrotron sources.
3. In the course of the last few years,
FELs have emerged as an exceptionally exciting tool for new science
providing unique capabilities for imaging the processes at work
in nature, and in man-made technology, at the very fast timescales
at which these often occur. New results (eg from FLASH —
the first short wavelength FEL in Hamburg) are already revealing
remarkable results on biological imaging, X-ray interaction physics,
and the science of measuring ultrafast interactions in chemical
and physical systems. In April, scientists at the LCLS light source
(Stanford, USA) saw the first spectacular evidence of hard X-ray
lasing and the first experiments are now taking place there. There
is likely to be profound impact from these new light sources in
biomedical imaging, drug design, fast electronics and magnetics,
industrial catalysis, and in artificial light harvesting. Despite
the costs, most advanced industrial nations are now pressing ahead
with the development of such light sources on their own soil,
and/or are becoming partners of the major international project,
XFEL.
4. In the meantime, other machines in Japan,
Germany and Italy are progressing rapidly towards first light
and a number of other projects are moving toward a formal go ahead
(eg Max IV in Sweden, SwissFEL in Switzerland, the Shanghai FEL
and South Korean FEL). The partners of the XFEL are China, Denmark,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia,
Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Thus, at the very time when UK
researchers are starting to establish a strong international presence
at the facilities so far available, the future prospects are looking
bleak without a stronger UK national commitment. It is vital for
the UK to develop an international strategy in FEL science and
technology to ensure that the UK remains a key player in a field
that promises profound impact across the sciences.
5. The decision of a UK withdrawal from
XFEL does not appear to have sufficiently taken into account the
resulting dire repercussions on our international reputation.
The minimal planned contribution of £30 million over
a five year period would have allowed UK engagement with the £1 billion
project and would have been exceptionally good value for money.
XFEL is the most advanced, and capable, of the current generation
of X-ray free electron lasers, with impact that will cut across
all areas of science. UK scientists need access to this facility
if they are to be able to exploit these new capabilities and develop
the expertise to remain a potent force in the many advanced research
areas that will be opened for the first time. It is a tragedy
if the door to access is to be closed, as none of the alternatives
(including LCLS in Stanford) have comparable capability. UK science
and possible future UK-based light sources will be seriously damaged
by losing access to XFEL. Likewise, the decision to withdraw support
from the Photon Science Research Institute, which has promoted
the use of the international FEL projects by UK-based research
groups, will irreparably damage UK competiveness in FEL science.
6. As the World embarks on this all-important
new era of science, it is vitally important to maintain UK momentum
in FEL science. The highest priority in the short term must be
devoted to establishing strong UK participation in FEL research
at the existing international facilities (FLASH, LCLS, XFEL from
2015), as well as at other developing FEL projects in Europe and
Japan. If the UK cannot afford to build a FEL of her own, she
certainly cannot afford not to play a major part in FEL science.
7. Three main points must be addressed in
order to maintain the credible profile of UK's involvement in
FEL science built over the last years.
(i) Every effort should be made to maintain a
dialogue with XFEL so that the UK users will not be excluded from
this world leading facility in the future. The UK partnership
with XFEL is a key issue to maintaining international credibility
as stakeholders of FEL science and technology.
(ii) Broad support must be provided by the RCUK
to allow access to international facilities. Scholarships and
bursaries must be maintained to ensure the healthy growing of
the research community.
(iii) The future UK's accelerator strategy must
incorporate development of FEL sources. This will ensure the technological
development for future exploitation.
We believe that, unless these measures are promptly
implemented, UK science and its potential will be severely hampered
for decades to come.
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