This past week, my collaborators and I wrapped up an exciting experiment at the European XFEL, where we used high-resolution meV inelastic X-ray scattering to measure temperatures inside matter heated to over 10,000 Kelvin. It’s a major step forward in our ability to probe extreme states of matter with atomic-level detail. The team included researchers from SLAC, the European XFEL, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and the University of Oxford—as well as some brilliant students and postdocs—who all played a critical role in making the experiment a success.

The photo above was taken in the XFEL control room, where we spent long shifts fine-tuning diagnostics and capturing the dynamic behavior of ions in real time. These kinds of experiments are complex and intense, but also incredibly rewarding. There’s a real sense of excitement when you see new physics unfolding live on the screen. Watch this space for the results!