Applications of Free Electron Lasers in Biology and Medicine

J.B. Pełkaa, K.R. Tyborb, R. Nietubyćc and G. Wrochnac a Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland, b Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland, c The Andrzej Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies, Świerk, Poland

Full Text PDF

The advent of free electron lasers opens up new opportunities to probe the dynamics of ultrafast processes and the structure of matter with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. New methods inaccessible with other known types of radiation sources can be developed, resulting in a breakthrough in deep understanding the fundamentals of life as well as in numerous medical and biological applications. In the present work the properties of free electron laser radiation that make the sources excellent for probing biological matter at an arbitrary wavelength, in a wide range of intensities and pulse durations are briefly discussed. A number of biophysical and biomedical applications of the new sources, currently considered among the most promising in the field, are presented.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.117.427 PACS numbers: 87.59.-e, 41.60.Cr, 07.85.Qe, 82.53.Ps, 87.64.Bx