The National Science Foundation announced $90.8 million in funding to Arizona State University — the largest NSF research award in the university’s history — to advance groundbreaking research in X-ray science.

The NSF award will support a five-year project to build the world’s first Compact X-ray Free Electron Laser, or CXFEL. This one-of-a-kind, room-sized X-ray laser instrument will fill a critical need for researchers to explore the intricacies of complex matter at atomic length and ultrafast time.

The CXFEL will allow scientists to observe biology’s molecular processes in detail — processes that are important for understanding human health and developing new medicines and drugs. It will also help investigators advance renewable energy research, quantum technologies, and semiconductor research and manufacturing.

Additionally, the CXFEL will dramatically shrink the size of the technology used by existing large-scale X-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) facilities, making the technology accessible to more research institutions at a fraction of the cost.

“This innovation is one that will directly benefit our local, national and global communities in profound ways,” ASU President Michael M. Crow said. “We have entered a new frontier in making scientific discovery more accessible and more affordable. This is one of the most significant ASU research projects to date and it is one that will have a positive impact in many critical areas related to the world’s grand challenges.”

In addition to the $90 million NSF grant, the university is investing approximately $80 million for the instrument, related infrastructure, facilities and support. The $170 million “will place ASU in a new era of science,” Crow said

The CXFEL will be built and housed at ASU Biodesign Institute’s Compact X-ray Free Electron Laser Labs on the Tempe campus. A diverse team of ASU engineers, scientists and students have worked together for a decade, laying the groundwork to bring this innovative and impactful project to fruition.

“It’s exciting and fulfilling to know that our team’s long-term efforts to make the CXFEL a reality are paying off, and we’re grateful for the support of the NSF and the forward-thinking leadership at ASU,” said Professor Bill Graves, chief scientist and principal investigator on the project. “This will be a boon for a wide range of imaginative scientists working to unlock the secrets of biology, chemistry, physics and new materials.”

In the medical field, for example, the CXFEL’s ability to make images and movies on a molecular scale could reveal how viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 attack cells or how drugs bind to target proteins. This potentially paves the way for safer, more effective pharmaceuticals that could help fight both emerging and long-standing diseases. Also, the CXFEL could reveal the dynamics and structure of the molecular causes of diseases like cancer or show the process by which cancer cells hide from the immune system. 

The CXFEL’s powerful imaging capability could also advance semiconductor designs at a time when domestic manufacturing is a national priority, and potentially usher in faster, more efficient electronics. 

Joshua LaBaer, executive director of the ASU Biodesign Institute, said the new device can provide innovative research that can propel successful and meaningful advances in science, adding, “Molecular and materials science will never be the same.”