Jefferson Lab in the News
Putting Free-Electron Lasers to Work
Astrophysical mystery of the prominent 21 mm peak in the emission spectra of certain giant stars was solved by comparing them with the spectrum of TiC nanocrystal clusters (red trace) produced by the free-electron laser at the FELIX facility in the Netherlands. The ultraviolet spectrum of the star SAO 96709 (blue trace) was recorded by the Infrared Space Observatory. The comparison makes the case that TiC nanocrystals are present in the outflows of such stars. The lattice is a pictorial representation of a typical 64-atom TiC nanocrystal. (Adapted from ref. 6.)