Ultrashort laser pulses can control X-ray switch

The ability to direct pulses of x-ray synchrotron radiation using femtosecond lasers was demonstrated. The key to the technique was the anomalous transmission of x rays through a crystal, called as the Borrmann effect. This technique was found to be limited by the sound of acoustic wave and gave control on time scales comparable to the synchrotron radiation pulse widths with various switching speeds. Controllable x-ray beamsplitters that could isolate a single pulse of synchrotron radiation were possible due to the use of Borrmann based technique.