The Advanced Photon Source (APS) at

Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facility is located in Lemont, Illinois, outside of Chicago, and is the l ...

(in Lemont, Illinois) is a storage-ring-based high-energy X-ray light source facility. It is one of five X-ray light sources owned and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Science The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in t ...

. The APS saw first light on March 26, 1995. It is operated as a user facility, meaning that it is open to the world’s scientific community, and more than 5,500 researchers make use of its resources each year.

How APS works

The APS uses a series of

particle accelerators A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...

to push electrons up to nearly the speed of light, and then injects them into a

storage ring A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating typically for many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, momentum and usually the charge of t ...

that is roughly two-thirds of a mile around. At every bend in the track, these electrons emit

synchrotron radiation Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung radiation) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (). It is produced artificially in ...

in the form of ultrabright X-rays. Scientists at 65 experiment stations around the ring use these X-rays for basic and applied research in a number of fields. Scientists use the X-rays generated by the APS to peer inside batteries, with the goal of creating longer-lasting, faster-charging energy storage devices; to improve 3D printing for more durable materials; to learn more about the behavior of charged particles in order to improve electronics; and to map the brain to understand more about neurological diseases. APS research played a role in the development of the COVID-19 vaccines in use in the United States. The Experiment Hall surrounds the storage ring and is divided into 35 sectors, each of which has access to x-ray

beamline In accelerator physics, a beamline refers to the trajectory of the beam of particles, including the overall construction of the path segment (guide tubes, diagnostic devices) along a specific path of an accelerator facility. This part is either ...

s, one at an insertion device, and the other at a bending magnet. Each sector also corresponds to a lab/office module offering immediate access to the beamline. Two Nobel prizes in chemistry have been granted for work performed in part at the APS. The 2009 prize was awarded for the discovery of the structure of the ribosome, and the 2012 prize for the structure of G-protein coupled receptors.

APS upgrade

The APS is currently undergoing an upgrade that will see the original storage ring replaced with a new multi-bend achromat lattice, nine new feature beamlines built and 15 existing beamlines enhanced. The result will be X-rays that are up to 500 times brighter than those currently generated, and beamlines that will enable greater focusing ability to examine smaller materials in sharper detail. The installation period for the new storage ring is scheduled for completion in 2024.

References

External links

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Lightsources.org
{{authority control Argonne National Laboratory Synchrotron radiation facilities

How APS works

APS upgrade

See also

References

External links