Summary

Light is one of the most powerful tools scientists have for probing matter. By interacting with electrons, light reveals how atoms, molecules and materials are structured and how they evolve in time. Highly energetic ultraviolet and X-ray photons are particularly attractive because they can access electrons located close to atomic nuclei, where each chemical element carries its own distinctive electronic fingerprint. While researchers can control electrons with visible and infrared lasers, extending these techniques to the XUV and X-ray domains has proven far more challenging.

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