New irradiation and performance requirements applicable to ELSA call for an evolution of the photocathodes in operation. The previous Cs₃Sb photocathodes have been replaced by new Cs₂Te photocathodes and the frequency of the laser illuminating them has been doubled accordingly, shifting the wavelength of the latter from the green to the UV range. The choice of a new cathode emissive material enables an extension its lifespan while maintaining comparable beam currents in spite of the lower laser power resulting from the frequency doubling.

LMCE was part of an international collaboration led at European XFEL. Using the DIPOLE100-X laser, they succeeded in studying carbon in its liquid state. This major scientific achievement was published in the journal Nature.

D. Kraus et al., Nature 642 (2025).

A pioneering measurement campaign has enabled the systematic mapping of the asymmetry between fragments produced in nuclear fission. Two “islands” of predominantly asymmetric fission have been identified as a function of the parent nucleus. The one in the lower-left corresponds to recently discovered asymmetric fissions in the mercury region (Z = 80). Our study shows that this type of fission is favored by the presence of a light krypton fragment (Z = 36). These results were published in Nature.

P. Morfouace et al., Nature 641 (2025).