Tag: milestone

Ten years at the service of the society and its challenges

Ten years at the service of the society and its challenges

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.

Five U.S. light sources form data solution task force

Five U.S. light sources form data solution task force

New collaboration between scientists at the five U.S. Department of Energy light source facilities will develop flexible software to easily process big data.

Light source facilities are tackling some of today’s biggest scientific challenges, from designing new quantum materials to revealing protein structures. But as these facilities continue to become more technologically advanced, processing the wealth of data they produce has become a challenge of its own. By 2028, the five U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science light sources, will produce data at the exabyte scale, or on the order of billions of gigabytes, each year. Now, scientists have come together to develop synergistic software to solve that challenge.
With funding from DOE for a two-year pilot program, scientists from the five light sources have formed a Data Solution Task Force that will demonstrate, build, and implement software, cyberinfrastructure, and algorithms that address universal needs between all five facilities. These needs range from real-time data analysis capabilities to data storage and archival resources.
“It is exciting to see the progress that is being made by all the light sources working together to produce solutions that will be deployed across the whole DOE complex,” said Stuart Campbell, leader of the data acquisition, management and analysis group at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a DOE Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

>Read more on the NSLS-II at Brookhaven National Lab

>Explore the other member facilities of the task force and read about their latest science news: Advanced Light Source (ALS), Advanced Photon Source (APS), Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

Image: Members of the task force met at NSLS-II for a project kickoff meeting in August of 2019.

SESAME facilities in ever-increasing demand

SESAME facilities in ever-increasing demand

No less than 151 proposals have been submitted in response to SESAME’s third call (Call “2”) for experiments on its three beamlines that closed on 27 January, thus confirming the ever-increasing demand for use of its facilities.

This time, it has been 64 proposals for experiments on its XAFS/XRF beamline that have been received, and 63 proposals for experiments on its IR beamline, as opposed to 60 and 43 proposals respectively in the second call, and 36 and 19 respectively in the first call. Added to this there have been 24 proposals for use of its MS beamline that comes into operation this year.
As in the first two calls in which there were not only proposals from the Members of SESAME but also from countries further afield (Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Mexico and Sweden), this time again they have not only originated from the Members of SESAME. There have again been proposals from Italy and Kenya, but also from Belgium, Malta, Qatar, South Africa and the U.K.
The large number of proposals and the variety of places from where they originate are excellent by any standards, and SESAME is greatly encouraged by the continuous upward trend in the number being received whether from users having already utilized SESAME’s facilities who are seeking to return to carry out further measurements, or new users from both the SESAME Members and beyond. In the case of the first group, this demonstrates that SESAME’s facilities are fully meeting users’ expectations, while in the second, this is evidence of the sound reputation SESAME is gaining on the world stage as a state-of-the-art synchrotron light source.

>Read more on the SESAME website

X-rays shine again in the Experimental Hall

X-rays shine again in the Experimental Hall

It’s a great achievement for the EBS project. Beamlines saw first EBS beam one month ahead of schedule.

30 January 2020, after reaching in the last two days stable operation conditions of the EBS storage ring at 100 mA injection current, 65% injection efficiency and stable and rapid vacuum conditioning, 26 out of 27 Insertion Device beamlines opened their front-end with 5 mA stored electron beam current. 

The EBS X-ray beam – on all these beamlines, at distances from the source varying from 45 to 160 m, depending on the specific beamline – was found within fractions of millimetres from its position as measured in December 2018 before the start of the shutdown.

>Read more on the ESRF website

Record participation at user meetings of the Hamburg research light sources

Record participation at user meetings of the Hamburg research light sources

More than 1300 participants from 28 countries have registered

For this year’s users’ meetings of the Hamburg X-ray light sources, more participants have registered than ever before: More than 1300 scientists from 28 countries will come to discuss research with DESY’s X-ray source PETRA III, the free-electron laser in Hamburg FLASH and the X-ray laser European XFEL for three days starting this Wednesday. The jointly organised users’ meetings of DESY and European XFEL are the largest gathering of this kind worldwide.

“The steadily increasing number of participants from Germany and abroad shows the great importance of the Hamburg research light sources for the national and international scientific community,” says DESY’s Director for Photon Science, Edgar Weckert. “Hamburg is one of the X-ray capitals of the world.” The brilliant X-ray light from the powerful particle accelerators provides detailed insights into the structure and dynamics of matter at the atomic level. It can be used, for example, to decipher the structure of biomolecules, illuminate innovative materials, film chemical reactions and simulate and study the conditions inside planets and stars.

At the European X-ray laser European XFEL, all six scientific experiment stations are in operation since June. “Our users’ experiences and expertise are crucial for shaping the future of our science and facility”, says European XFEL managing director Robert Feidenhans’l. “The annual users’ meeting, therefore, is an extremely valuable opportunity for users and scientists who work at our facilities to share their experiences of doing experiments at the instruments, and talk about ideas for further development.” In 2019, 890 scientists from 255 institutes in 28 countries participated in experiments at the facility.

> Read more on the PETRA III and FLASH website

> Please find here another article on the European XFEL website

Picture: The jointly organised users’ meetings are the largest gathering of this kind worldwide.
Credit: DESY, Marta Mayer

NSLS-II achieves design beam current of 500 milliamperes

NSLS-II achieves design beam current of 500 milliamperes

Accelerator division enables new record current during studies.

The National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory is a gigantic x-ray microscope that allows scientists to study the inner structure of all kinds of material and devices in real time under realistic operating conditions. The scientists using the machine are seeking answers to questions including how can we built longer lasting batteries; when life started on our planet; and what kinds of new materials can be used in quantum computers, along with many other questions in a wide variety of research fields.

The heart of the facility is a particle accelerator that circulates electrons at nearly the speed of light around the roughly half-a-mile-long ring. Steered by special magnets within the ring, the electrons generate ultrabright x-rays that enable scientists to address the broad spectrum of research at NSLS-II.

Now, the accelerator division at NSLS-II has reached a new milestone for machine performance. During recent accelerator studies, the team has been able to ramp up the machine to 500 milliamperes (mA) of current and to keep this current stable for more than six hours. Similar to a current in a river, the current in an accelerator is a measure of the number of electrons that circulate the ring at any given time. In NSLS-II’s case, a higher electron current opens the pathway to more intense x-rays for all the experiments happening at the facility.

>Read more on the NSLS-II at Brookhaven Lab website

Image: The NSLS-II accelerator division proudly gathered to celebrate their recent achievement. The screen above them shows the slow increase of the electron current in the NSLS-II storage ring and its stability.

Milestone in ALS-Upgrade project will bring in a new ring

Milestone in ALS-Upgrade project will bring in a new ring

Construction of innovative accumulator ring as part of ALS-U project will keep Berkeley Lab at the forefront of synchrotron light source science.

An upgrade of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has passed an important milestone that will help to maintain the ALS’ world-leading capabilities.

On Dec. 23 the DOE granted approval for a key funding step that will allow the project to start construction on a new inner electron storage ring. Known as an accumulator ring, this inner ring will feed the upgraded facility’s main light-producing storage ring, and is a part of the upgrade project (ALS-U).

This latest approval, known as CD-3a, authorizes an important release of funds that will be used to purchase equipment and formally approves the start of construction on the accumulator ring.

>Read more on the Advanced Light Source at Berkeley Lab website

Image: This cutaway rendering of the Advanced Light Source dome shows the layout of three electron-accelerating rings. A new approval step in the ALS Upgrade project will allow the installation of the middle ring, known as the accumulator ring.
Credit: Matthaeus Leitner/Berkeley Lab

First light for SESAME’s MS beamline

First light for SESAME’s MS beamline

On Monday, 23rd December 2019, at 13:21, scientists at the SESAME light source successfully delivered the first X-ray monochromatic beam to the experimental station of the Materials Science (MS) beamline, that will be used in applications of the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) technique in materials science, The beamline will provide a powerful tool for studying microcrystalline or disordered/amorphous material on the atomic scale, the evolution of nano-scale structures and materials in various environmental conditions and for developing and characterising new smart materials.  

To have seen the X-ray signal inside the MS experimental station was very exciting said the MS beamline scientist, Mahmoud Abdellatief. It was the realization of four years of hard work, and has given me added stimulus for the new challenges lying ahead before the beamline may host users in some six months. 

Picture: SESAME scientists just after obtaining the first monochromatic X-ray fluorescence signal (from left to right: Mahmoud Abdellatief, MS beamline scientist, Messaoud Harfouche, XAFS/XRF beamline scientist, and Gihan Kamel, IR beamline scientist)
Credit: SESAME

First x-ray microtomography images obtained at Sirius

First x-ray microtomography images obtained at Sirius

Two days after storing electrons in Sirius’ storage ring, the CNPEM´s team have performed the first x-ray microtomography analysis at the new Brazilian synchrotron light source. Through a simple proof of concept experiment, using less than ten thousandth of the expected power, it was possible to observe the arrival of synchrotron light for the first time in one of Sirius’ future experimental stations. This is a major milestone for the project, and a victory for Brazil’s science and technology.

“These early rock microtomography demonstrate the functionality of this great machine, designed and built by Brazilians to bring our science to a new level. Sirius is still in the early stages of commissioning, but these early tests that allowed X-ray images to be made ensure that the future will be very bright! We are very excited about the possibility to provide to the Brazilian scientific community a new level of experimental techniques as soon as possible”, said Antonio José Roque da Silva, Director General of CNPEM and the Sirius Project.
The first images were taken at one of the beamlines set up for testing, using X-ray tomography imaging techniques. These analyses mark another important milestone in the Sirius commissioning process. The team is now dedicated to achieving higher and higher currents needed to produce synchrotron light of enough intensity for the first scientific experiments.

>Read more on the LNLS website

Image: (screenshot) Projection of a carbonate rock sample, which has the same composition of the rocks from the Brazilian pre-salt reservoirs.

Sirius reaches his first stored electron beam

Sirius reaches his first stored electron beam

The new Brazilian synchrotron light source continues its successful commissioning

On Saturday, December 14th, CNPEM’s team stored electrons in Sirius’s storage ring for several hours. This is a prerequisite for producing synchrotron light, and it happens only a few weeks after the first electron loop around the main accelerator was achieved.
In addition, on Monday, December 16th, with the connection of the accelerator to one of the beamlines set up for testing, it was possible to receive the first X-ray pulse, still discrete due to the small number of circulating electrons.
The achievement came after an intense and thorough work of adjusting hundreds of equipment parameters, another very important milestone in the Sirius commissioning process. The team is now dedicated to achieving higher and higher currents needed to produce synchrotron light of enough intensity for the first scientific experiments.
Sirius is the largest and most complex scientific infrastructure ever built in Brazil and one of the first 4th generation synchrotron light source to be built in the world and it was designed to put Brazil at the forefront of this type of technology.

>Read more on the LNLS website

First stored beam

First stored beam

6 December, 12.30 pm. Today, the electrons have been stored for the first time, in the new Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) storage ring.

Today, 6 December 12:30 pm was a great and intense moment for all the ESRF teams: the electrons have been stored for the first time in the new EBS storage ring, only five days after the start of the EBS storage ring commissioning. This is a new key milestone on the way to opening to the international scientific community the first high-energy fourth-generation synchrotron light source, known as EBS – Extremely Brilliant Source.

” Seeing the first beam stored only five days after the start of the commissioning is a huge achievement and an intense moment for all involved. EBS is becoming a reality.” said Pantaleo Raimondi, ESRF accelerator and source director and EBS storage ring concept inventor and project leader.

>Read more on the European Synchrotron website

17th Users’ Meeting at SESAME and inauguration of the guest house

17th Users’ Meeting at SESAME and inauguration of the guest house

Some 80 scientists from the region and beyond are meeting at SESAME on 30 November and 1 December to discuss the scientific programme and latest results from the laboratory. For the first time, the Users’ meeting is being held on the SESAME campus in a new guest house and meeting facility. Another first this year is that the meeting is being held jointly with the European Synchrotron and FEL User Organisation, ESUO, a sign of SESAME’s growing integration into the international research landscape.

The programme opened with a welcome from the Laboratory’s Director, Khaled Toukan, and an update on the SESAME scientific programme and beamlines. It continued with presentations of results from experiments conducted at SESAME. There were also presentations from representatives of European light sources, as well as from the OPEN SESAME consortium, an EU funded project that has provided training support since 2017 and concludes this year, the BEATS consortium, another EU funded project building a tomography beamline at SESAME, and from HESEB, a SESAME-Helmholtz collaboration for the installation of a new soft X-ray beamline.

>Read more on the SESAME website
Image: A group photo for the 17th annual SESAME Users’ meeting.
Credit: SESAME.

Article about the inauguration of SESAME’s guest house.

More magnets, smoother curves: the Swiss Light Source upgrade

More magnets, smoother curves: the Swiss Light Source upgrade

The Swiss Light Source SLS is set to undergo an upgrade in the coming years: SLS 2.0.

The renovation is made possible by the latest technologies and will create a large-scale research facility that will meet the needs of researchers for decades to come.

Since 2001, “the UFO” has been providing reliable and excellent service: In the circular building of the Swiss Light Source SLS, researchers from PSI and all over the world carry out cutting-edge research. For example, they can investigate the electronic properties of novel materials, determine the structure of medically relevant proteins, and make visible the nanostructure of a human bone.
“Internationally, the SLS has been setting standards for nearly two decades”, says Terence Garvey, SLS 2.0 accelerator project head. Now, Garvey continues, it’s time for a modernisation. In the coming years, SLS is expected to undergo an upgrade with the project title SLS 2.0. SLS will remain within the same UFO-shaped building, but will get changes in crucial areas inside. Garvey is one of the two project leaders for the upgrade, together with Philip Willmott.

Swiss Light Source (SLS) , , ,

First electrons turn in the ESRF’s Extremely Brilliant Source Storage Ring

First electrons turn in the ESRF’s Extremely Brilliant Source Storage Ring

This is an important milestone on the way to opening to the international scientific community the first high-energy fourth-generation synchrotron light source, known as EBS – Extremely Brilliant Source.

It marks the successful completion of the engineering and installation of a worldwide-unique accelerator within the existing ESRF infrastructure, and the start of the commissioning phase of a brand-new generation of high-energy synchrotron.
Expectation was high in the ESRF’s control room on 2 December as teams carefully monitored the first turns of the electrons around the new EBS storage ring. “Seeing the first electrons circulating is a huge achievement and proof of the hard work and expertise of the teams who have been working on this since 2015,” said Pantaleo Raimondi, ESRF accelerator and source director and EBS storage ring concept inventor and project leader. “It’s a great moment for all involved.”

>Read more on the ESRF website

Image: The first three turns of electrons in the new EBS storage ring.

One of Sirius’ most important steps: first electron loop around the storage ring

One of Sirius’ most important steps: first electron loop around the storage ring

This is one of the most important stages of the largest scientific project in Brazil .

The Sirius project has just completed one of its most important steps: the first electron loop around its main particle accelerator, called the Storage Ring. In this large structure, 518 meters in circumference, the electrons accelerated to very high energies produce synchrotron light: a very bright light used in scientific experiments that could revolutionize knowledge in health, energy, materials and more.
The first loop demonstrates that thousands of components such as magnets, ultra-high-vacuum chambers and sensors are working in sync, and that the entire structure, with parts weighing hundreds of kilograms, have been aligned to micrometer standards (up to five times smaller than a strand of hair) needed to guide the trajectory of the particles.
Sirius is the largest and most complex scientific infrastructure ever built in Brazil and one of the first 4th generation synchrotron light source to be built in the world and it was designed to put Brazil at the forefront of this type of technology.

The next steps of the project include concluding the assembly of the first beamlines: the research stations where scientists conduct their experiments. These stations allow researchers to study the structure of virtually any organic and inorganic materials, such as proteins, viruses, rocks, plants, soil, alloys, among many others, in the atomic and molecular scale with very high resolution and speed.

>Read more on the LNLS (CNPEM) website

Picture: first loop around the storage ring.