(PhysOrg.com) -- In a few short months, the Linac Coherent Light Source will start operation as the world's first hard X-ray free electron laser, pushing SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to the frontier of photon science. Using SLAC's linac to drive a free electron laser, or FEL, the LCLS will generate X-rays an eye-popping 10 billion times brighter than the current cutting-edge technology, while simultaneously providing pulses lasting less than one millionth of one billionth of a second.