Argonne National Laboratory

Advanced Photon Source

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) is a unique national source of high-energy X-rays — the brightest X-ray source in the Western Hemisphere — for scattering, spectroscopy and imaging studies. APS beams allow researchers from all over the world to make breakthroughs in diverse fields, from materials science to biology, physics, chemistry, and the environmental, and the geophysical and planetary sciences. Recent studies at the APS have revealed the structure of anthrax proteins, recreated conditions at the Earth’s core, and helped develop more efficient engine designs. Several APS beamlines accommodate experiments at extremes of pressure and temperature, or in situ observations of crystal growth.

Advanced Photon Source

The Advanced Photon Source is one of the brightest sources of X-rays in the Western Hemisphere. Photons are accelerated to over 99% of the speed of light around its ring, which is the size of a baseball stadium. Over 3,500 scientists from around the world visit the APS every year to do scientific research, which has resulted in over 10,000 published studies and contributed to the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

Argonne Distinguished Fellow Andrzej Joachimiak brings a protein crystal into focus on the Structural Biology Center's beamline at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source. Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

Argonne physicist Jin Wang makes adjustments to a machine used for examining high speed jets at the Advanced Photon Source.

Crystals on the APS beamline

GM/CA-CAT beamline director Robert Fischetti adjusts a sample crystal on the beamline. Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

Seneca virus

An illustration of the 3-D structure of Seneca Valley Virus-001. The structure of a virus that is harmless to normal human cells but an enemy of certain cancer cells has been determined by researchers using an x-ray beamline at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory. This new knowledge may help drug designers tweak the pathogen enough so that it can attack other tumor subtypes. Using the University of Chicago’s BioCARS 14-ID beamline at the APS, the researchers from The Scripps Research Institute have, for the first time, solved the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of a virus, known as “Seneca Valley Virus-001,” that can infect specific cancer cells.

Cerium-aluminum

high-pressure synchrotron x-ray diffraction patterns of cerium-aluminum Background: Ever since the Bronze Age, humans have experimented with combining different metals to create alloys having properties superior to either metal alone. But not all metals readily form alloys. For some pairs of elements the atoms are too dissimilar. Now, researchers in an international team, using high-brilliance x-rays from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory , have discovered that previously impossible alloys can be created by subjecting atoms to high pressure―opening possibilities for new materials in the future.

Strontium titanate

The arrangement between atoms of a film of strontium titanate and the single crystal of silicon on which it was made is shown on the left. When sufficiently thin, the strontium titanate can be strained to match the atom spacing of the underlying silicon and becomes ferroelectric. On the right, this schematic has been written into such a film utilizing the ability of a ferroelectric to store data in the form of a reorientable electric polarization. Research was done at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

Fuel spray

The liquid breakup of a high-density stream from a fuel injector as imaged with ultrafast synchrotron x-ray full-field phase contrast imagingat the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

A ferromagnetic-semiconductor Europium oxide sample is subjected to high pressures in a diamond anvil cell. The electronic structure is simultaneously probed with circularly-polarized x-rays at the Advanced Photon Sourceat Argonne National Laboratory, revealing the mechanism responsible for the strengthening of magnetic interactions under pressure.

Diamond anvil cell

Geoscientist Vitali Prakapenka examines a diamond anvil cell under a microscope. The cell contains a tiny sample of water that has been turned to ice by the extreme pressure generated by the diamonds. Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe

Beamline scientist Robert Winarski peers at a sample inside Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe. Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

X-ray diffraction machine

Scientist Yu-Sheng Chen calibrates the needle of the X-ray diffraction machine at ChemMatCARS in the Advanced Photon Source. The beamline is the only place in the U.S. able to examine the small crystals of compounds that may be able to identify biological and chemical weapons. Photo by George Joch, courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA

Lightning over the APS

The Advanced Photon Source facility illuminated by lightning. The Advanced Photon Source, located at Argonne National Laboratory, in Illinois, is the source of the brightest X-rays in the Western Hemisphere. Courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

APS Linear Accelerator

Advanced Photon Source (APS) linear accelerator. The Advanced Photon Source, located at Argonne National Laboratory, in Illinois, is the source of the brightest X-rays in the Western Hemisphere. Courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

Studying Alzheimer's disease at the APS

Mark Davidson (left), University of Florida, and Joanna Collingwood, Keele University, United Kingdom (UK), who is supported by a UK Alzheimer's Society Research Fellowship and Dunhill Medical Trust), align a sample of Alzheimer's brain tissue at the Advanced Photon Source microfocus facility, MR-CAT, beamline 10-ID. The Advanced Photon Source, located at Argonne National Laboratory, in Illinois, is the source of the brightest X-rays in the Western Hemisphere. Courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

Ancient relics at the APS

Lori Khatchadourian (University of Michigan) and Adam Smith (The University of Chicago) switch sample mounts at the Advanced Photon Source ChemMatCARS 15-ID-D beamline. The samples are from one of Smith’s excavations in Armenia and date to 1300 B.C. Smith’s group is analyzing relics from northern China, the southern Urals, and the south Caucasus. The group’s goal is to determine the utility of APS analysis to examining large assemblages of mundane objects from different parts of the past. The Advanced Photon Source, located at Argonne National Laboratory, in Illinois, is the source of the brightest X-rays in the Western Hemisphere. Courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

University of Chicago scientist Rafael Jaramillo and Argonne scientist Yejun Feng examine the element chromium at the Advanced Photon Source. Studying simple metallic chromium, the joint UC-Argonne team has discovered a pressure-driven quantum critical regime and has achieved the first direct measurement of a "naked" quantum singularity in an elemental magnet.

Beetle tracheas

Tracheal tubes are visible in this synchrotron x-ray phase contrast image (right) of a tenebrionid beetle (left). See: Alexander et al., “Increase in tracheal investment with beetle size supports hypothesis of oxygen limitation on insect gigantism,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104(32), 13198 (August 7, 2007). DOI: 10.1073pnas.0611544104. (Courtesy: The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL; and Argonne National Laboratory) This image was created with the use of the Advanced Photon Source, located at Argonne National Laboratory, in Illinois. The APS is the source of the brightest X-rays in the Western Hemisphere. Courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

Argonne Guest House and APS

Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA

Multilayer Laue lens research team

A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has developed the new "multilayer Laue lens." This lens focuses high-energy X-rays so tightly they can detect objects as small as 15 nanometers in size and is in principle capable of focusing to well below 10 nanometers. This approach doubles the resolution over existing lenses, and future advancements could increase resolution by 10 times. From left to right: Bing Shi, Lahsen Assoufid, Brian Stephenson, Jörg Maser, Chian Liu, Lisa Gades. Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory

NDM-1 protein

The structure of NDM-1 shows the protein’s enlarged active site, which lets it latch onto and disable a broad range of antibiotics. Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

"There’s a delicate balance you have to strike," said Argonne physicist Byeongdu Lee, who led the characterization of the supraparticles using high-energy X-rays provided by Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source. "If the attractive Van der Waals force is too strong, all the nanoparticles will smash together at once, and you’ll end up with an ugly, disordered glass. But if the repulsive Coulomb force is too strong, they’ll never come together in the first place." Researchers from the University of Michigan and China also collaborated on the study. Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory Photo by: George Joch

Advanced Photon Source

Argonne scientist Karena Chapman holds up a wafer of metal organic framework ZIF-8 with its structure displayed on the computer screen. Chapman along with scientists Peter Chupas and Gregory Halder were able to change the structure of a metal organic framework at pressures low enough for large scale industrial applications. Photo by George Joch Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

Diamond anvil cell

Argonne scientist Karena Chapman holds a diamond anvil cell next to collaborating scientists Peter Chupas and Gregory Halder. Photo by George Joch Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

A bird feather is branched into spongy feather barb cells (primary branches). These barbs turn branched into barbules, which are seen here as lash lines. A portion of the research was conducted at the 8-ID beamline at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Photo Credit: Simon Mochrie

Feather color

Diversity of non-iridescent or angle-independent feather barb structural colours in birds and the underlying nanoscale morphology of the colour-producing (photonic) nanostructures revealed using electron microscopy and synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). A portion of the research was conducted at the 8-ID beamline at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Credits: Collage by Vinod Saranathan, photograph of Plum-throated Cotinga (Cotinga maynana) by Thomas Valqui. From V. Saranathan et al., J. R. Soc. Interface, published online 9 May 2012. ©2012 The Royal Society.

Advanced Photon Source

Bhoopesh Mishra works on the MRCAT/EnviroCAT x-ray beam line at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

Advanced Photon Source

A beamline scientist at the Advanced Photon Source aligns a sample of a computer chip in the nanodiffractometer, which allows for structural characterization of individual nano materials. This one-of-a-kind high-energy X-ray detector can focus on a wide variety of material structures with high resolution on a 200-nanometer sized area, much smaller than the typical diffraction detector micron range. The upgrade of the APS will increase focusing to 50 nanometers.

Advanced Photon Source

Cai Zhonghou, beamline scientist at the Advanced Photon Source, aligns a sample of a computer chip in the nanodiffractometer, which allows for structural characterization of individual nano materials. This one-of-a-kind high-energy X-ray detector can focus on a wide variety of material structures with high resolution on a 200-nanometer sized area, much smaller than the typical diffraction detector micron range. The upgrade of the APS will increase focusing to 50 nanometers.

APS shock gun shoot

Scientists from Argonne and Los Alamos National laboratories study crack formation in glass using a "shock gun" for high pressure studies at the 32-ID-B beamline at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne.

APS shock gun shoot

Scientists from Argonne and Los Alamos National laboratories study crack formation in glass using a "shock gun" for high pressure studies at the 32-ID-B beamline at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne.

APS nanoprobe beamline

Volker Rose, assistant physicist with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source X-ray Science Division and Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory, works on a prototype high-resolution microscope at the nanoprobe beamline in Sector 26 of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne. He won a DOE Early Career Grant in 2012 to help with R&D for the project. Rose’s award will allow him to develop a novel high-resolution microscopy technique for imaging nanoscale materials with chemical, electronic, and magnetic contrast. The technique will combine sub-nanometer spatial resolution of scanning probe microscopy with the chemical, electronic, and magnetic sensitivity of synchrotron radiation.

Advanced Photon Source

The cooling system for the superconducting undulator, SCU0, that is part of the R&D work for the upgrade to the Advanced Photon Source. The upgraded APS will be the world’s first lightsource to use super-conducting planar undulator technology. The shorter period length made possible by super-conducting technology will enable the APS to produce the world’s brightest X-rays, with energies higher than 25 keV, by at least a factor of six. This ability to increase the number of X-rays focused on a smaller, laser-like spot, will allow for the collection of more data in greater detail in less time.

Vacuum cryomodule

Yury Ivanyushenkov (front) and Joel Fuerst (back), of the Accelerator Science Division, work on the vacuum cryomodule for the world's first super-conducting undulator that will be installed in the Advanced Photon Source as part of its upgrade. The cryomodule works like a giant thermos, keeping the super-conducting cavities inside at 4 degrees Kelvin.

Vacuum cryomodule

Joel Fuerst, of the Accelerator Science Division, works on the vacuum cryomodule for the world's first super-conducting undulator, which will be installed in the Advanced Photon Source as part of its upgrade.

Vacuum cryomodule

Emil Trakhtenberg (front left), of the APS Engineering Support Division and Mechanical Engineering and Design Group; Yury Ivanyushenkov (front right) and Joel Fuerst (back), of the Accelerator Science Division, work on the vacuum cryomodule for the world's first super-conducting undulator, which will be installed in the Advanced Photon Source as part of its upgrade.

Advanced Photon Source

Chuck Doose (left) and Yuko Shiroyanagi, of the Accelerator Science Division, prepare the magnetic measurement test stand. Testing ensures that the super-conducting undulator for the Advanced Photon Source upgrade will meet the high-precision requirements needed to generate the world's brightest X-rays above energies of 25 keV.

Advanced Photon Source

Chuck Doose (left) and Yuko Shiroyanagi, of the Accelerator Science Division, prepare the magnetic measurement test stand. Testing ensures that the super-conducting undulator for the Advanced Photon Source upgrade will meet the high-precision requirements needed to generate the world's brightest X-rays above energies of 25 keV.