In the latter part of the 20th century, the UW Synchrotron Radiation Center pioneered science enabled by light produced by electron beams.
With construction of a FEL facility, Wisconsin will take the lead into the 21st century, applying the transformational technology of free electron lasers to research in solid state physics for computers, chemical dynamics, superconductors, nanotechnology, atmospheric and interstellar gases, energy production, medicine, and biology.
Scientists at the UW-Madison, in collaboration with colleagues at MIT, are in the process of planning the future of light-enabled research in the United States via a next-generation lightsource: The Wisconsin FEL.