anniversary – Lightsources.org

25 years of BESSY II light source for the good of society

2023/09/192023/09/19

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) is celebrating the 25 years of existence of BESSY II together with the international scientific community. More about the highlights from 25 years of research at BESSY II, the plans for the future, and the people who reliably operate the machine are to be found in the special anniversary magazine here.

When BESSY II in Berlin Adlershof went into operation in September 1998, it was a milestone for the reunified Berlin and in some ways a starting point for the success story of Adlershof. After only four years’ construction time, the successor to the first Berliner synchrotron radiation source that was previously in West Berlin (BESSY I) now stood in the eastern part of the city.

Today, BESSY II is a magnet for scientific exchange. Every year, the research facility receives more than 2700 visits from guest researchers from all over the world, who use the special X-ray light for their research. BESSY II has delivered results that have led to breakthroughs in many research fields. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) is therefore celebrating the 25 years of existence of BESSY II together with the international scientific community. More about the highlights from 25 years of research at BESSY II, the plans for the future, and the people who reliably operate the machine are to be found in the special anniversary magazine here.

BESSY II is a material discovery machine

The most important experiments today are those for developing the materials we need for an environmentally friendly energy supply of the future.

Be it solar cells, catalysts for green hydrogen, batteries, or quantum materials – the special X-ray light (aka synchrotron light) from BESSY II can be used to look inside everything. HZB and its partners have expanded these experimental possibilities considerably in the recent years. In-situ and in-operando measurements allow researchers to “watch live” how a battery gets charged or discharged, for example, or how a catalyst works. That helps experts to further optimise the materials they are made of so that they work even more efficiently.

Plans for the future

25 years of BESSY II are incentive for Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin to continue operating the light source at the highest level, and to allow societally important research to continue into the future. Accordingly, the work for a comprehensive upgrade to BESSY II+ has been underway in the recent months. Many components of the accelerator and several experimental stations (beamlines) are being renovated and modified in order to offer even more attractive research possibilities for science and industry. HZB experts have also developed a concept for a successor source in Berlin Adlershof, which will allow this important research to continue further still for decades to come. After all, a powerful light source that delivers soft X-ray light is essential for Germany as a science and technology location, and secures jobs in the long term.

Read more on HZB website

Always on the pulse of time

2023/04/122023/04/18

On 1 January 2023, the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI turned 35. And these past 35 years have been very eventful. Some of those events have to do with the development and the history of the Institute: new large research facilities have been added; proton therapy has become increasingly important; the spin-offs created at PSI and the licensing agreements concluded were also important. Most recently, the focus has been on exploring quantum physics and using it in practical applications. Another group of events has to do with research itself, with the history of science at PSI. These are about research and research results that are not only, but to a large extent, related to the unique large research facilities available at PSI.

Read more on the PSI website

Image: 1988: Foundation of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI

40 years of research with synchrotron light in Berlin

2022/09/142022/10/06

For decades, science in Berlin has been an important driver of innovation and progress. Creative, talented people from all over the world come together here and develop new ideas from which we all benefit as a society. Many discoveries – from fundamental insights to marketable products – are made by doing research with synchrotron light. Researchers have had access to this intense light in Berlin for 40 years. It inspires many scientific disciplines and is an advantage for Germany.

In September 1982, the first electron storage ring officially went into operation in Berlin-Wilmersdorf under the name BESSY (Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung). In order to create this coveted synchrotron light, electrons are accelerated to near light speed in a circle. As they race around at this speed they emit special light, which scientists can use to look inside their samples. The successor facility in Berlin-Adlershof, BESSY II, is also based on this principle. It produced its first light beam in 1998 and is operated by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). Presently, the facility receives around 2700 visits per year from guest researchers from everywhere in the world. It will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in September 2023.

Read more on the HZB website

Image: A view of the experimental hall at BESSY II

Credit: © S. Steinbach/HZB

Ten years at the service of the society and its challenges

2020/03/232020/03/24

On 22nd March 2010, ALBA was inaugurated becoming one of the most important scientific infrastructures of Spain.

Since then, its synchrotron light has been a great ally for numerous advances in a huge range of scientific fields, such as biomedicine, materials science, nanotechnology or archaeology. The ALBA Synchrotron represents a formidable return of knowledge, development and well-being for society.
Cerdanyola del Vallès, 23rd March 2020 10 years have passed since the inauguration of ALBA, the Spanish synchrotron light source. InMarch 2010, it was celebrated the launch of an unprecedented scientific project whose aim was becoming an essential tool for science and technology. Ten year later, ALBA has far exceeded its initial expectations, also being an international reference among worldwide light sources. It is currently under a continuous growth process byinstalling new equipment and updating its instrumentation to meet both present and future scientific challenges. In particular, ALBA is helping in the fight against COVID-19 to advance in the knowledge of the virus and in the development of vaccines and treatments.

The number of synchrotron light users in Spain has reach, from the initial 200 at the time of the project approval, to more than 5,000 users, almost half of them international; as well as more than 50 private national and international companies. In total, ALBA has provided synchrotron light for research groups belonging to 1,850 institutions from 45 different countries. The result has been more than 1,500 experiments performed that have been reflected in around 1,100 scientific publications.
Currently, the ALBA Synchrotron has 8 beamlines and 5 more are under construction, all equipped with different techniques for analyzing matter at an atomic and molecular level thanks to the high quality of the synchrotron light produced. Since the beginning, 37,722 hours of light have been generated. In this time, the electrons inside the accelerators would travel 2.7 million times the distance from Earth to the Sun!

>Read more on the ALBA website.

60 years of DESY – From Hamburg particle accelerator to global research centre

2019/12/182019/12/19

Germany’s largest accelerator centre turns 60 on 18 December 2019

The story of DESY began on 18 December 1959 with the signing of a contract in Hamburg’s town hall. It is a story of success, for global research and for Germany as a science hub! For the past 60 years, fundamental research has been carried out at DESY in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld – which was joined in 1991 by a second DESY site in Zeuthen. In those 60 years, DESY has become a world leader in accelerator technology, structure research, particle physics and astroparticle physics. During these 60 years, DESY has developed pioneering technologies, which have been used by scientists from all over the world to make outstanding advances. Among other things, the gluon was discovered and the structure of ribosomes was determined at DESY.
“It is now a question of the big challenges of our times,” says DESY’s director Professor Helmut Dosch. “We have developed a new generation of research tools in the form of so-called X-ray lasers. These afford fundamental insights in medicine and in materials engineering, for example, which will help shape the world of tomorrow.” DESY offers unique conditions for this: the combination of the radiation sources PETRA III, FLASH and European XFEL means that international scientists can carry out experiments using high-intensity X-rays. In addition to this, DESY offers structure researchers and businesses from all over the world a unique “toolbox” in the form of supplementary methods for manufacturing, processing and examining nano-samples and nanomaterials. DESY’s second site in Zeuthen is also an international magnet as a growing centre of excellence in astroparticle physics. Zeuthen operates the only accelerator in Brandenburg and is one of the largest scientific institutions in the region.

>Read more on the DESY website

Image: Part of the DESY staff in Hamburg holds the DESY-60 logo
Credit: DESY/H. Müller-Elsner

NSLS-II celebrates its 5th anniversary

2019/10/232019/10/23

In just five years, 28 beamlines came online, over 1,800 different experiments ran, and nearly 3,000 scientists conducted research at the National Synchrotron Light Source II.

On this day five years ago, the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) achieved “first light”—its first successful delivery of x-ray beams. Signaling the start of operations at NSLS-II—one of the world’s most advanced synchrotron light sources—Oct. 23, 2014 marked a new era of synchrotron science.

“It is astonishing to me how much we have accomplished in just five years,” said NSLS-II Director John Hill. “Every day when I come to work, I am proud of what we have achieved through the expertise, dedication and passion that everyone here brings to NSLS-II.”

Image: An aerial view of NSLS-II. The facility is large enough to fit Yankee Stadium inside its half-mile-long ring.

CLS celebrates 20th anniversary of its launch

2019/10/012019/10/03

From the discovery of an enzyme able to turn any blood into a universal donor type, to a process that creates plastic from sunshine and pollution, to identifying heat-tolerance traits in pea varieties, scientific advances achieved at the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) are being celebrated asv the institution marks the 20th anniversary of its launch. “This unique-in-Canada research centre arose from an unprecedented level of collaboration among governments, universities, and industry in Canada, and represents the single largest investment in Canadian science,” said USask President Peter Stoicheff. “Strongly endorsed two decades ago by many other universities across Canada and by an international scientific panel, the CLS has made possible cutting-edge research that benefits human and animal health, agriculture, advanced materials, and the environment. For USask’s research community, it has helped us be the university the world needs.”

Construction of the synchrotron facility on the USask campus began in 1999 and its official opening was held Oct. 22, 2004. Since then, thousands of scientists from across Canada and around the world have come to the CLS to run experiments that could not be done elsewhere in Canada.

ESRF celebrates 30 years of science, 30 years of international collaboration

2018/11/272018/11/27

The ESRF celebrates its 30th anniversary in the presence of the representatives of its 22 partner countries. This event looks back at ESRF’s scientific accomplishments but also on the role that the ESRF has played in fostering peaceful cross-border collaboration in Europe and beyond.

“Congratulations on 30 years of success; here is to 30 more to come,” said Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, in a video message.

“ESRF is a shining example of what can be achieved when people of different nationalities and cultures come together to pursue a common goal, to push back the frontiers of science,” said ESRF Director General Francesco Sette. “In drawing up the ESRF Convention, back in 1988, the ESRF’s founding fathers established a unique model for scientific and technological excellence. Today, with 22 partner countries, and by bringing together scientists from all over the world, the ESRF continues to demonstrate how science unites nations and contributes to addressing complex global challenges facing our society.”

2018 holds a particular significance for the ESRF as the facility celebrates its 30th anniversary. In 1988, 11 countries joined forces to create the first third-generation synchrotron light source: a dream became a reality. Thirty years later, the ESRF has broken records for the brilliance and stability of its X-ray beams, for its scientific output (over 32 000 publications, i.e., around 2 000 publications per year during the last ten years, and four Nobel prize laureates), and for the strength of its community of users (about 10 000 scientific visits per year with users from 50 different countries).

The human behind the beamline

2018/10/232018/10/24

Happy Birthday, Felix Bloch – 23rd October 1905

Felix Bloch was born on this day (23rd October) in 1905 in Zürich, Switzerland. He got a Ph.D. in 1928 studying under Werner Heisenberg. In his thesis, he established the quantum theory of solids describing how electrons moved through crystalline materials using Bloch waves. The phenomena he described are observed today using the technique ARPES which is carried out at the Bloch beamline at MAX IV.

Image: Detail of a Max Bloch illustration. To discover the entire illustration click here.
Credit: Emelie Hilner.

50 years later, Wilson Lab stays cutting edge

2018/10/192018/11/05

October 2018 marks the 50^thanniversary of the dedication of the Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory.

Initially built for $11million and promising to deliver cutting-edge research in elementary particle physics, it was the NSF’s largest project at that time. Fifty years later, the lab is going through its biggest upgrade in decades.
Chris Conolly looks at the concrete floor of Wilson Lab, eyeing up the numerous holes drilled by one of the contractors for the upgrade project. These one-inch holes pockmark the 10,000sf experimental hall of the Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory. In a way, these holes represent the numerous experiments conducted over the past 50 years.

There are a lot of holes. 652 to be exact, as the CHESS X-ray Technical Director and CHESS-U beamline project manager easily points out.
“It’s almost like being an archaeologist”, says Conolly, as he walks through the maze of newly constructed hutches in the experimental hall. He stops near the sector II hutches, “especially this spot here,” he says, presenting a repeating pattern of drilled holes arcing across the floor. The pattern spans a total of about 25 feet, and Chris, who has been with CHESS for the past 18 years, has no idea what was held down by the bolts marked in the floor.

Image: Robert Wilson, right, was the architect behind Wilson Lab, as well as many of the subsequent experiments. Wilson later went over to Fermilab to design their famed building.

European XFEL celebrates one year of user operation

2018/09/05

At the beginning of September, staff and users of the world’s largest X-ray laser facility celebrate a successful first year of user operation.

Since September 2017, over 500 scientists from more than 20 countries from across the globe have visited European XFEL in Schenefeld in north Germany for their week long experiments. The first research results were published just days ago on 28 August; more publications are in preparation for the following weeks.

For the first and second round of experiments scheduled from September 2017 to October 2018, 123 international groups of scientists submitted their proposals for experiment. Of these, 26 groups were selected by an international panel of experts to carry out their research at the two instruments—the SPB/SFX instrument (Single Particles, Clusters and Biomolecules / Serial Femtosecond Crystallography) and the FXE instrument (Femtosecond X-Ray Experiments). The experiments range from method development to biomolecule structure determination and studies of extremely fast processes in small molecules and chemical reactions. Submissions for the user experiments at the remaining four instruments scheduled to start operation between the end of 2018 and mid-2019 are currently being evaluated.

>Read more on the European XFEL website

Image: The European XFEL birthday cake shows the map of the underground tunnel system. It was cut by Nicole Elleuche (Administrative Director European XFEL), Robert Feidenhans’l (Managing Director European XFEL), as well as Maria Faury (Chair of the European XFEL Council) and distributed to European XFEL and DESY staff.

First-year operational results of the MAX IV 3 GeV ring

2018/08/272018/09/06

If you fly over MAX IV right now and look down, you’ll see a large circular building. The reason for this size and shape is the 528-meter-long 3GeV storage ring which precisely guides bunches of electrons traveling at velocities approaching the speed of light. As the electrons pass through arrays of magnets called insertion devices, they produce bright X-rays which are then used by beamline scientists to do many different types of experiments.

In an article published this month in the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, the 3 GeV ring team led by Pedro Tavares describe the results for the first year of operation. This important milestone in the MAX IV project provides validation for many of the brand-new concepts that were implemented in the MAX IV design in order to improve the performance of the machine and reduce downtime.

One year anniversary and we are well on our way

2017/06/212018/02/05

Since the opening MAX IV Laboratory will have received 21 groups of scientists.

Since opening 21 June 2016 and up to the summer shutdown MAX IV Laboratory will have received 21 groups of scientists, involved in circa 50 different research projects. They have performed experiments at the beamlines BioMAX (12 groups), NanoMAX (5 groups), FemtoMAX (2 groups) and HIPPIE (2 groups), all situated on the 3 GeV storage ring.

These groups come from both academia and industry and have applied for beamtime either through the normal proposal system or through the expert commissioning call. The scientists come from Sweden (31 persons), Denmark (17 persons), Norway (2 persons), Germany (2 persons) and Finland, Italy and USA (one person from each country).

Some of the topics that these groups have studied relates to:

research for new antibiotics by studying the structure of possible bacterial target proteins
studies of enzymes that may be targets for medicines, for example cancer
examination of the nanoscale distribution of elements in a thin film of kesterite
studies of 3D structures of nerve threads from patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes
time-resolved X-ray studies of bulk semiconductors and layered nano-crystalline ceramic samples

>Read More