X-ray vision: Director of ambitious CXFEL project sees the potential to unlock new knowledge

December 15, 2022

Editor's note: This is the third installment of a five-part series profiling the researchers who work on ASU’s compact X-ray free electron laser. Read the other installments: Q&As with Regents Professor Petra Fromme, CXFEL Labs Chief Scientist William Graves, Assistant Professor Sam Teitelbaum and CXFEL Chief Engineer Mark Holl.

When you think of X-rays, you may imagine a scan of a broken bone or Superman peering through walls. But when Robert Kaindl thinks of X-rays, he sees scientific potential. Portrait of ASU physics Professor Robert Kaindl. Robert Kaindl, director of the ASU Compact X-ray Free Electron Laser Labs Download Full Image

As a physicist at Arizona State University, he uses extremely short laser pulses to study the properties of materials, discover and control previously unknown phases, and track the movements of electrons on quantum scales of length and time, among other uses.

“I’m most intrigued by what lies at the edge of our knowledge, pursuing phenomena that have never been observed before,” says Kaindl, a professor in the ASU Department of Physics.

To that end, Kaindl directs ASU’s Compact X-ray Free Electron Laser (CXFEL) Labs at the Biodesign Institute. The CXFEL, when complete, will generate unique, ultrashort X-rays to allow researchers to see inside molecules and matter, advancing scientific efforts in areas such as drug development, renewable energy and quantum computing.

Building the compact X-ray light source (CXLS) is the first phase of the CXFEL project. While part of a larger effort, the CXLS is a powerful tool on its own that will allow scientists to capture ultrafast images of molecular behavior and chemical reactions as they happen.

“The development of a novel light source fits our desire for discovery perfectly, as progress in science is often based on pushing the resolution or capabilities of instruments,” says Kaindl.

Here, Kaindl discusses his journey to becoming the director of CXFEL Labs, the challenges he has helped guide the project through and the exciting opportunities that the CXFEL will offer in the years to come.

Question: What is your role at CXFEL Labs, and what do you do on a day-to-day basis?

Answer: As director of CXFEL Labs, I’m responsible for the overall management of the facility, working with a highly talented team of faculty, scientists and students. With the conclusion of the compact X-ray light source (CXLS) commissioning, our focus is shifting to early experiments with its ultrashort X-rays and the transition to a user facility. In the National Science Foundation project to implement the future CXFEL light source, I will take care of its validation phase and transition to operations.

Q: What are you known for?

A: I investigate quantum and nanoscale materials with ultrashort lasers. The focus is on understanding the fundamental nature of these materials and how their properties can be controlled with light. Part of my work has also been developing new ultrafast sources and techniques, giving us a front-row seat in observing new physical phenomena.

Q: What has been one challenge in the CXLS project and how have you and the team overcome it?

A: The project involved many challenges, but the pandemic clearly tops the list. I arrived at ASU in late February 2020, just days before the shutdowns began. While many activities ceased, the construction of CXLS was able to continue with nearly full effort, aside from several notable supply chain disruptions. This is a testament to both the strong team and ASU’s unwavering support for the project. Moreover, the Biodesign Institute set up a PCR testing lab for ASU and Arizona, which was a tremendous asset for the CXFEL team to work safely through this challenging time.

Q: Why is ASU the right place to build these instruments?

A: ASU has a unique spirit of innovation seen everywhere across campus, which is essential for pursuing a project as bold as CXFEL. Faculty here are among the pioneers of XFEL science from its early days. This includes Petra Fromme, who co-developed the core method of serial femtosecond crystallography used at XFELs worldwide. Situating an accelerator-based X-ray light source directly on campus at one of the nation’s largest public universities maximizes access to advanced X-ray science and will help educate the next generation of researchers in this forefront field.

Q: What were pivotal moments in your career that led you to where you are today?

A: Early on, I was fortunate to work with leading groups in the field — including my doctoral research with Thomas Elsaesser at MBI and Humboldt University in Berlin, where I developed and utilized novel mid-infrared sources to observe the dynamics of superconductors and quasi-2D semiconductors. My postdoctoral work was with the late Daniel Chemla in Berkeley, detecting for the first time excitons via their terahertz-frequency absorption. In 2007, I became a principal investigator in Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division, where we pursued ultrafast studies of complex materials with terahertz, electron and X-ray probes, including the development of a new time- and momentum-resolved photoelectron facility. Having joined ASU as a physics faculty member and to manage CXFEL labs, I am excited to be part of the development of compact X-ray sources and to pursue the next phase of ultrafast science.

Q: How do your personal interests or hobbies enhance or complement your professional endeavors?

A: When I’m not in the lab, classroom or office, you might well find me on a hiking trail somewhere around Phoenix. Some of my best ideas originate out in nature. I’m also an avid skier, though the pandemic and time pressures have taken their toll lately.

Q: What potential application or aspect of the CXLS/CXFEL is most exciting to you?

A: CXFEL entails many interesting properties, which the user community can exploit to uncover new science. Personally, I find the potential for attosecond soft X-ray pulses particularly exciting (an attosecond is one-billionth of a billionth of a second). The motion of electrons in matter occurs on such time scales. For instance, the classical orbit time of an electron in hydrogen is only about 150 attoseconds. Attosecond X-ray pulses thus provide us with a “time microscope” to observe and unlock the most fundamental electron movements responsible for chemical reactions and quantum correlations in materials.

The Biodesign Institute and its CXFEL Labs are partially supported by Arizona’s Technology and Research Initiative Fund. TRIF investment has enabled hands-on training for tens of thousands of students across Arizona’s universities, thousands of scientific discoveries and patented technologies, and hundreds of new startup companies. Publicly supported through voter approval, TRIF is an essential resource for growing Arizona’s economy and providing opportunities for Arizona residents to work, learn and thrive.

Mikala Kass

Communications Specialist, ASU Knowledge Enterprise

480-727-5616 mkass@asu.edu

On healing and tools for mending

Cards from the Humane Tech Card Deck spread over a desk with various craft materials and notes

After nearly three years of virtual deep conversations around technology, ethics and our future, the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Arizona State University held its first in-person Humane Tech Design Studio on Nov. 19 and 20.The event brought together academics, technologists and changemakers to collaborate on the problems brought on by new technologies and intensified by the COVID-19 pande...

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On healing and tools for mending

Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics hosts first in-person Humane Tech Design Studio

December 15, 2022

The event brought together academics, technologists and changemakers to collaborate on the problems brought on by new technologies and intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Central to this in-person meeting was the Humane Technology Tarot Deck, released by the Lincoln Center earlier this fall. Conversations with the Humane Tech Design Studio cohort inspired the creation of the card deck, and the in-person gathering presented the opportunity for the cohort to develop reflective activities and generative opportunities for its use among diverse community groups. Cards from the Humane Tech Card Deck spread over a desk with various craft materials and notes Central to the in-person meeting was the Humane Technology Tarot Deck, released by the Lincoln Center earlier this fall. Conversations with the Humane Tech Design Studio cohort inspired the creation of the card deck, and the in-person gathering presented the opportunity for the cohort to develop reflective activities and generative opportunities for its use among diverse community groups. Photo courtesy the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics Download Full Image

“We’ve all felt a productive tension between the desire to get somewhere tangible through these conversations and the level of convergence around the ways we connect with one another,” said Gaymon Bennett, associate director of the Lincoln Center, during his opening remarks. “And so we began to think about things in our lives that have those properties of structure and orientation, but also openness, inventiveness and creativity."

Workshop participants collaborated through a series of movements to design experiences based around the card deck, and developed prototypes for interactive exercises centered on the themes of repair and trust. Host Tamara Christensen, founder of the Idea Farm Co-op, encouraged the participants to think both as designers and as people who would actually use the tools developed: “What narratives and stories about healing and mending can we find in the cards?”

The designs were geared toward two subsets of users: people who were trying to figure out how to care and be cared for, and people who had lost trust in institutions and sought support from communities.

The workshop drew inspiration from play and creative inspiration card decks as a way to gamify important discussions around humane tech. Participants developed their prototypes over the course of several hours before presenting to a group of diverse test users who provided feedback for how the experience could be improved.

Training workshops utilizing the deck in the workplace and classroom, and expansions of new cards were discussed as potential future projects.

“Other groups are also talking about the kind of things we’ve been grappling with — tech, our dependence upon it — but are doing so in ways that are often less reflective and comprehensive than what we have explored over three days together,” said Elizabeth Langland, director of the Lincoln Center. “We look forward to advancing initiatives that build upon the sophisticated thinking this workshop has generated and that allow us to contribute meaningfully to ongoing discussions about humane technologies and ethical innovation.”

People gathered in a conference room talking.

Presentation given during the Humane Tech Design Studio meeting.

Photo courtesy the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics

Two women stand in front of a whiteboard in a conference room and speak to an audience.

This in-person studio was the culmination of nearly three years of virtual deep conversations around technology, ethics and our future, bringing together academics, technologists and changemakers to collaborate on the problems brought on by new technologies and intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo courtesy the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics