Advanced Photon Source

Researchers from around the world use Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS) to see their experiments through new eyes. Source of the nation's most brilliant X-ray beams for materials science research, the APS is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. It has opened new doors for scientists in many different fields.

With a circumference of 1,104-meters, the APS is large enough to hold a baseball park in its center. It houses a complex of machines and devices that produce, accelerate and store a beam of electrons. The beam passes through magnetic devices called "wigglers" and "undulators" that vibrate the electrons' path, causing them to emit X-rays.

For more information about the APS and Argonne's other scientific user facilities, visit the following Web pages:

• APS home page
• How the APS generates high-brilliance X-ray beams
• Scientific facilities -- National user facilities and other resarch facilities that are available for use by qualified scientists