Synchrotron Radiation Facilities in China

Synchrotron radiation activities in China date back to the late 1970s. With the large increase of investment in science by the Chinese central government to promote the development of science and technology in China, quite a few large scientific projects were proposed by the scientific community, among which were Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPC) and Hefei Synchrotron Radiation Light Source (HLS). The major aim of BEPC was for the studies of high energy particle physics with a parasitic synchrotron radiation facility, i.e., the so-called Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF). It started operation in 1991 and became the first synchrotron radiation facility in China. As a parasitic facility, BSRF operated a few months a year and played an important role in fostering the synchrotron radiation user community in China. The HLS, a dedicated synchrotron radiation facility, came into operation almost at the same time as BSRF. As a lower energy synchrotron radiation facility, it aimed mostly at the applications of synchrotron radiation VUV wavelength range. Both BSRF and HLS were upgraded again due to strong demands from users. The rapid development of synchrotron radiation applications and facilities in the world in the 1980s and early 1990s spurred the great interest of Chinese scientists to build an advanced synchrotron radiation light source. A third generation light source was first proposed in mainland China in 1993 and was later shaped as the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) in 1995.