Meeting Reports: 2005 Annual Meeting of JSSRR (Japanese Society for Synchrotron Radiation Research)

The 18th Annual Meeting and General Assembly of the Japanese Society for Synchrotron Radiation Research (JSSRR) and the joint symposium of synchrotron radiation facility user's society groups were held at Sun-Messe Tosu Conference Hall in Tosu City, Japan, from January 7 to 9, 2005. The meeting was attended by 607 people and included 6 symposiums, 96 oral presentations, and 356 poster presentations covering all aspects of synchrotron radiation research and technology. The meeting also included 49 industrial exhibitions.

The six symposiums were on “Recent progress on soft X-ray optical elements,” “Now and the future on SR-XRF analysis for biological and environmental sciences,” “Recent development of THz Coherent Synchrotron Radiation,” “Super high-resolution protein structure analysis,” “Frontlines of Bio-Nano-microspectroscopy by UV-SX high brilliance SR,” and “The role of synchrotron radiation in the future of science: groundbreaking SR utilization for research on excited states”.     

Meeting Report: Soft-X-ray Photon-in and Photon-out Spectroscopy: New Frontier

Immediately before Johann Wolfgang von Goethe died in 1832, he asked for “more light, open the (window) shutters!” The desire for “more light, open the (beam) shutters!” accompanied me from 1962 on during all my professional life, although the first opening of our beam shutter at the 6 GeV-Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg in 1965 ended in a catastrophe: instead of flooding us with synchrotron light, we were flooding the accelerator completely with air. This was long before 1987, when Synchrotron Radiation News came to life, but a personal view on the development of synchrotron radiation, which the editors of SRN asked me to give, cannot avoid looking back into history, where it all came from.     

Measurements of the operating-time variation of the spectral radiance of deuterium lamps

For the calibration of radiometric transfer standards by means of electron synchrotron radiation an apparatus has been developed which is in service at DESY, Hamburg. The equipment is used to calibrate commercial deuterium lamps (165 nm to 340 nm). The uncertainty of the “absolute” spectral radiance is ± 4%, whereas that of the relative spectral radiance is ± 2%.     

Photon Sources at DESY

During the past 10 years, photon science activities at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, have expanded significantly and this development is expected to continue in the coming years. The soft X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) FLASH has been in user operation for over 10 years and the high-brilliance hard X-ray synchrotron radiation source PETRA III started serving the user community five years ago. Access to both light sources has since been highly demanded by scientists not only from Germany and Europe, but from all over the world. The request for beamtime far exceeded the capacity of available experimental infrastructure at both facilities and, for this reason, it was necessary to add further beamlines and also to broaden the portfolio of techniques. Therefore, new facilities have recently been built to almost double the existing capacity for user beamtime at both sources (Figure 1).     

How it All Started at DESY in 1964

To put it bluntly, synchrotrons and storage rings were originally not intended to become light sources for synchrotron radiation (SR). If particle physicists had not driven this development for their own needs, we would not yet have these sources available at their present level of sophistication. In 1964, when the then-6 GeV synchrotron DESY at the newly founded Hamburg institution of the same name started operating, SR was considered at best a nuisance. Accelerating an electron to 6 GeV was accompanied by a loss of 9.35 GeV on its way due to this radiation, and later, at 7.5 GeV, the loss amounted to 22.8 GeV. How could it then happen that today all of the DESY storage rings and linear accelerators are devoted to SR?     

11th Annual BNL Accelerator Test Facility Program Committee and Users' Meeting

The Seventh Annual Users' Meeting of the Canadian Light Source was a great success, as the world's newest synchrotron welcomed close to 400 researchers and students from across Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia to the University of Saskatchewan on November 17–21, 2004. The plenary session of the Users' Meeting, held November 20, was preceded by five workshops: “XAFS Analysis Using Ifeffit, Athena and Artemis,” “SR Applications in Environmental Science,” “Medical Imaging,” “Protein Crystallography,” and “Applications of Elliptically Polarized Synchrotron Radiation.” Meetings of the Beamline Advisory Committee and beamline teams were held on November 21.

After welcoming remarks by Dr. Alan Anderson, Chair of the CLS User Advisory Committee, the meeting opened with a briefing by CLS Executive Director William Thomlinson regarding the accomplishments made by the CLS over the preceding year.     

Application of Advanced Synchrotron Radiation–Based and Conventional Molecular Techniques in Recent Research on Molecular Structure,Metabolic Characteristics,and Nutrition in Coproducts from Biofuel Processing

Abstract

Advanced synchrotron radiation infrared microspectroscopy, as a nondestructive and rapid analytical technique, is able to simultaneously reveal the structural, chemical, and environmental features of biomaterials at cellular and molecular levels within intact tissue. However, to date, this advanced synchrotron-based technique is still seldom used by feed and nutrition scientists. This article aims to provide detailed information regarding how to apply advanced synchrotron radiation–based and conventional molecular techniques to research in coproducts from biofuel processing on the molecular structure, metabolic characteristics, and nutrition. The information described in this article provides better insight on coproduct research progress and updates with advanced synchrotron radiation-based and globar-based (conventional) molecular spectroscopy.     

Use of Infrared Microspectroscopy in Plant Growth and Development

Abstract

Infrared microspectroscopy (IMS) has emerged as a key technique for the study of plant growth and development. The combination of IMS and synchrotron radiation has enabled researchers to analyze plant development at a cellular level. The spatial distribution of functional groups in plant tissue can be determined by the “chemical imaging” ability of IMS. Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and polarized IR spectroscopies in combination with IMS makes sampling rapid and easy, providing direct analysis in situ. This review covers applications of IMS to study cell wall architecture and the major cell wall components: lignin, cellulose, and polysaccharides; applications for agricultural and feed products; and changes to plant structure due to biotic and abiotic stressors.     

Measurements of electron energy losses and VUV-reflectivity of anthracene single crystals

Anisotropic behaviour of the electron energy loss spectra is discussed in terms of the oriented gas model. These measurements are compared with electron energy loss spectra in the vapour phase and normal incidence VUV-reflectivity from the (ab) plane for 2 directions of polarization. The VUV measurements were made at DESY using synchrotron radiation.     

High-pressure Mössbauer spectroscopy with nuclear forward scattering of synchrotron radiation

Abstract

Using a diamond anvil cell, high-pressure ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy has been performed with the nuclear forward scattering of synchrotron radiation. A pressure-induced magnetic hyperfine interaction at ⁵⁷Fe in SrFeO_{2, 97} has been detected at 44 GPa and 300 K for a first time by a quantum-beat modulation of the decay rate after collective nuclear excitation by the synchrotron pulse. The basic concept and method used to detect nuclear forward scattering with synchrotron radiation are discussed.     

Investigations of aluminum films with synchrotron radiation of wavelengths 500 to 1000 Å

Measurements of the photocurrent from thin Al cathodes in a windowless electron multiplier as a function of wavelength, polarization, angle of incidence, and film thickness have been carried out in the extreme vacuum ultraviolet. A normal incidence monochromator utilizing synchrotron radiation provided highly polarized light. A marked difference is found between the photocurrent measured during irradiation of thin films with “s” and “p” polarized light at wavelengths near the Al plasma wavelength (835 Å). For films thicker than about 500 Å pronounced interference effects are found in both “p” and “s” light at wavelengths less than the plasma wavelength. The observations can be explained by assuming the photocurrent is related to the photon density (electromagnetic energy density) in the photocathode. Calculations of the energy density in films irradiated with light give the structure found in the measured photocurrent. The measurements indicate our monochromator yields light with a degree of polarization consistent with the calculated polarization of the synchrotron radiation incident upon our grating (about 85%).     

XRMS 2008 Workshop at DESY

From January 23–24, 2008, the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) provided a forum for more than 75 scientists from 12 countries to discuss recent developments in the investigation of magnetic solids with synchrotron radiation. The framework for this meeting was the International Workshop for X-ray Spectroscopy of Magnetic Solids (XRMS 2008). The XRMS workshop series was established in 2000 when the first meeting was held at BESSY (Berlin, Germany). It then continued annually or bi-annually, always in conjunction with a users meeting at one of the European synchrotron radiation facilities. In this year, the XRMS workshop preceded the HASYLAB Users Meeting at DESY on January 25.     

Protein crystallography with the PILATUS 1M detector at the Swiss Light Source

The last few years have seen an increase in the demand of automation at synchrotron radiation facilities. The main driving forces behind this quest are the Structural Genomics Centers and related projects [1], with their need for large throughput of samples and an increasing number of relatively unskilled users with ever increasing demands.

In order to meet the needs of this diverse community, the structure determination process must be streamlined. A production pipeline for high volume determination of structures requires optimization and automation of current processes in use at synchrotron facilities. The ultimate goal is to arrive at a system that, with little more input than a sample, will provide the researcher with the final molecular structure.     

Sensitivity Advantage of QCL Tunable-Laser Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy Over FTIR Spectroscopy

Abstract

Interest in mid-infrared spectroscopy instrumentation beyond classical FTIR using a thermal light source has increased dramatically in recent years. Synchrotron, supercontinuum, and external-cavity quantum cascade laser light sources are emerging as viable alternatives to the traditional thermal black-body emitter (Globar), especially for remote interrogation of samples (“stand-off” detection) and for hyperspectral imaging at diffraction-limited spatial resolution (“microspectroscopy”). It is thus timely to rigorously consider the relative merits of these different light sources for such applications. We study the theoretical maximum achievable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of FTIR using synchrotron or supercontinuum light vs. that of a tunable quantum cascade laser, by reinterpreting an important result that is well known in near-infrared optical coherence tomography imaging. We rigorously show that mid-infrared spectra can be acquired up to 1000 times faster—using the same detected light intensity, the same detector noise level, and without loss of SNR—using the tunable quantum cascade laser as compared with the FTIR approach using synchrotron or supercontinuum light. We experimentally demonstrate the effect using a novel, rapidly tunable quantum cascade laser that acquires spectra at rates of up to 400 per second. We also estimate the maximum potential spectral acquisition rate of our prototype system to be 100,000 per second.     

Hydrodynamic Flows in Microsized Liquid Crystal Cells with Orientational Defects

The effect of the orientational defect (OD) on the formation process of a vortical flow v(t, r), emerging in a microsized liquid crystal (LC) cell under the action of a focused laser radiation, was studied within the nonlinear generalization of the classical Ericksen–Leslie theory by numerical methods, considering the thermomechanical contributions to both the stress tensor and viscous torque, that acts on the unit volume of the liquid crystal phase (LC phase). The analysis of the obtained results showed that the vortical flow, rotating clockwise, is generated in a “defect” LC cell close to the OD, with the OD, placed on the lower bounding surface, on which the laser radiation was focused. The rotational velocity of this flow is two orders of magnitude greater than the rotational velocity of the vortex, which is generated in a “pure” LC cell at the same conditions and rotates anticlockwise.

     

A large volume pressure cell for high temperatures

Abstract

Studies of matter under very high pressure at synchrotron radiation sources are mostly done using pressure cells with single-crystal diamond anvils. In some cases the available volume (≤ 10^?3mm³)in such cells causes problems especially at high temperature and for crystal synthesis. To ensure sufficient homogeneity of pressure and temperature, the use of cells with large sample volumes (≥ 1 mm³) is necessary.

Existing devices for such measurements are compared with a novel setup which consists of a toroidal anvil arrangement and a lightweight (50 kg) press with 250 tonnes (2.5 MN) capacity. Preliminary tests of this instrument with synchrotron radiation are reported.

Presented at the IUCr Workshop on ‘Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation for HighPressure Crystallography’. Daresbury Laboratory 20-21 July 1991     

State of the Art and Perspectives of Biomedical Imaging at the ESRF

Over the last decade, synchrotron radiation sources have seen a significant increase in brilliance, and the advent of free electron lasers has made entire new research fields accessible to investigations with X-rays. These advances in light source capabilities have resulted not only in a host of scientific advances and discoveries, but also in a need for a new generation of X-ray imaging detectors that can match the sources' capabilities in terms of frame rate and image dynamic range while recording image information with fine granularity over a large – preferably uninterrupted – (multi)megapixel area with single-photon sensitivity. Developing such next-generation imagers is both costly and time-consuming, and the requirements at many photon science facilities are similar enough to invite a collaborative effort. The Percival (“Pixellated Energy Resolving CMOS Imager, Versatile And Large”) imager is being developed by a collaboration of DESY, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), Elettra, and Diamond Light Source (DLS) to answer this need for the soft X-ray regime.     

ESRF 11th users' meeting and workshops

More than 90 participants from Europe, the US and Japan gathered from April 27 to 29, 2005, in Zeuthen, near Berlin, to hold a lively international meeting on time-resolved soft X-ray science. The meeting continued the series of preceding workshops held in 2002 in Napa (California, USA) and in 2003 in Montreux (Switzerland). It was organized by the three synchrotron radiation sources BESSY (Berlin, Germany), the Swiss Light Source SLS (Villigen) and the French synchrotron radiation source SOLEIL (Orsay).

The aim of the workshop was to bring together the existing ultrafast laser community and the emerging ultrafast X-ray community in order to discuss recent scientific highlights from both fields and to outline new directions for the application of ultrafast X-rays.     

Study of Kinetics of Solid Phase Transition in Tetracosane С24Н50 by High-Resolution Synchrotron X-Ray Powder Diffraction

Physics of the Solid State - Using the small-angle synchrotron X-ray diffraction method at the research facility “BELOK” of the Kurchatov synchrotron radiation source at the NRC...     

Permanent magnet wigglers for reducing the emittance of the Petra III synchrotron radiation source

The Petra III synchrotron radiation source was developed based on the Petra-II 6-GeV electron accelerator (DESY). After installing the system for radiation damping, the horizontal emittance of the electron beam of Petra III decreased from 5 nm rad to 1 nm rad, which is a record parameter for this class of installations. The system of radiation damping includes 20 permanent magnet wigglers installed in two straight sections, 50 m each. The total radiation power of the wigglers reaches 800 kW. The wigglers used in the radiation damping system of Petra III were developed in collaboration with DESY (Hamburg) and fabricated by the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics. The wiggler length is 4.04 m, the gap between the poles is 24 mm, the maximum magnetic field is B = 1.52?1.56 T, and the period is λ = 20 cm. This paper describes the design features of the permanent magnet wigglers and the methods and results of adjustment of the wiggler operating parameters.