Attosecond science is enabled by NeXUS beamlines.
Artist's rendering of laser pulses interacting with impulsively aligned CO2 molecules from a gas jet.
XUV light produced by laser driven high harmonic generation.
STM image of point defects on a GaAs(110) surface.

NSF NeXUS Facility

At the heart of the National Extreme Ultrafast Science Facility (NeXUS) at Ohio State will be an ultrafast laser that delivers a kilowatt of power.  This project will be the first to translate this recently developed technology in high average power, ultrafast lasers developed under the European Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) to the United States.  This laser will be used to produce Extreme Ultraviolet (XUV) and soft X-ray pulses by high harmonic generation.  These ultrafast pulses of XUV light will enable researchers to study how electrons move in molecules and materials at time scales as fast as attoseconds and length scales as small as angstroms.

1 kW laser: 10 mJ at 100 kHz, pulse duration down to 10 fs

Drive attosecond and femtosecond XUV and soft x-ray generation

Supply XUV light to the following experimental end stations:

  • X-ray absorption and reflection spectroscopy

  • X-ray magnetic circular dichroism

  • Angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

  • Scanning tunneling microscopy

  • Molecular imaging by laser-induced electron diffraction

NSF NeXUS Scientific Vision

At the heart of each of these technologies is the ability to control matter at the scale of individual electrons and atoms in systems that are far from equilibrium. This can never be accomplished without the ability to probe these dynamics on the relevant scales of time and space.

Femtosecond to Attosecond Time Scales Angstrom Length Scales

The grand challenges of today will not be solved by one discipline alone.  They require convergence: the merging of ideas from widely diverse fields.


Connected dots of different colors, illustrating converging ideas
Growing Convergence Research

One of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas

The grand challenges of today will not be solved by one discipline alone. They require convergence: the merging of ideas from widely diverse fields.

Illustration of a bridge with a section missing, illustrating a gap in knowledge
Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure

One of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas

“[Mid-scale] projects include an impressive collection of new design efforts and advanced instrumentation. These projects fill gaps and provide unique research capabilities for the U.S.”
–Jim Ulvestad, NSF