DESY, Hamburg, Germany
The European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) in Hamburg, Northern Germany, aims at producing X-rays in the range from 260 eV to 24 keV out of three undulators that can be operated simultaneously with up to 27,000 pulses per second. The XFEL is driven by a 17.5 GeV superconducting linac. This linac is the worldwide largest installation based on superconducting radio-frequency acceleration. The design is using the so-called TESLA technology which was developed for the superconducting version of an international electron positron linear collider. After eight years of construction the facility is now brought into operation. First lasing was demonstrated in May 2017. Experience with the super-conducting accelerator as well as beam commissioning results will be presented. The path to the first user experiments will be laid down.
