In two separate studies, the world’s most powerful X-ray laser has been used to build the first atomic X-ray laser pulse, as well as to superheat and control a clump of 2-million-degree matter. The atomic laser could be used to watch biological molecules at work, while the creation of hot dense matter could be used to understand the processes of nuclear fusion.

Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory used the Linac Coherent Light Source, a rapid-fire X-ray laser, to flash-heat a small piece of aluminum foil and create a solid plasma known as hot dense matter. A team led by Sam Vinko, a postdoc at Oxford University, took the temperature of this matter — 2 million degrees Celsius, or 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit — and the whole process took about a trillionth of a second. The measurements will lead to more accurate models of how hot dense matter forms and behaves. These models could help scientists understand — and maybe someday recreate — the process of nuclear fusion that fuels the sun, according to a news release from SLAC.