Foreword

When, finally, FLS’23 did occur, it was met with great enthusiasm: over 200 participants enjoyed an exciting potpourri of excellent presentations, posters, discussions and valuable exchanges with eleven industrial exhibitors. It was gratifyingly evident that advances in light sources had not ceased during the Covid crisis, and that the FLS workshop provided a much welcome and long-awaited opportunity to present this progress to our community.

As is the tradition of the FLS series, the working-group conveners were granted the task of drafting the scientific program. This consisted of 16 invited talks, 64 contributed talks, 4 working group summary talks and 62 posters, a few of which were also presented in 4 hybrid sessions. All presentations generated much discussion that would often propagate enthusiastically into the coffee breaks. The unseasonably wet weather unwittingly helped keep participants in check and focused on the workshop topics. Thankfully, as if on cue, the rain stopped in time for the workshop dinner aboard a boat cruising the captivating lake of Lucerne, surrounded by a panorama of mountains. With 65 contributions documented in this proceeding, we have a sound record of the work presented at the workshop, and a lasting point of reference.

We thank all participants, and in particular the working group conveners and LOC members for contributing to the success of this workshop. A special thanks to the JACoW editorial team for diligently processing the manuscripts and ensuring the timely release of these proceedings. Last, but not least, we are pleased to announce, on behalf of the IOC, that the next FLS event will take place in Chicago in fall 2027 and is to be chaired by John Byrd of ANL.