NSLS-II

NSLS-II
Name	NSLS-II
Established	2015
Type	Synchrotron light source
Location	Upton, New York, United States

NSLS-II The National Synchrotron Light Source II is a large-scale Brookhaven National Laboratory facility near Upton, New York that provides high-brightness, high-coherence synchrotron radiation for research used by scientists from United States Department of Energy, Columbia University, Stony Brook University, Princeton University and international partners. The facility supports research across disciplines involving users from National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, IBM, General Electric, Pfizer and other institutions seeking advanced probes for materials, chemistry, biology and energy science.

Overview

NSLS-II is a third-generation synchrotron light source designed to deliver extremely bright, highly coherent x-ray beams to support studies by researchers affiliated with Brookhaven National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. The center enables experiments that complement programs at facilities like European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Diamond Light Source, SPring-8 and Advanced Photon Source, offering capabilities sought by investigators funded by Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and private sector partners.

History and construction

Planning for the project involved stakeholders including U.S. Department of Energy program managers, managers from Brookhaven Science Associates, and academic representatives from Columbia University, Cornell University and Yale University. The project followed earlier infrastructure efforts at Brookhaven National Laboratory such as the original National Synchrotron Light Source and aligned with roadmap recommendations from panels convened by National Research Council and advisory committees from Office of Science (DOE). Major construction contracts were awarded to firms with experience at Bechtel, Fluor Corporation and engineering teams with prior work at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. Groundbreaking and civil works proceeded amid environmental reviews involving agencies like New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, with commissioning phases coordinated with accelerator physicists formerly associated with CERN and DESY.

Facility design and technical specifications

The storage ring architecture incorporates a triple-bend achromat-inspired lattice developed by accelerator physicists and engineers who previously worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The ring operates at nominal electron energies delivering photon energies comparable to those used at Advanced Photon Source and SPring-8. Key systems were supplied by vendors with portfolios including Thales Group, Siemens, General Atomics and specialized magnet designers from collaborations with researchers at University of Chicago and California Institute of Technology. The vacuum systems, magnetic lattice, radio-frequency cavities and insertion devices were designed to meet specifications influenced by studies from Argonne National Laboratory and modeled with simulation tools developed at CERN and DESY. The facility supports beam currents, emittance, stability and coherence parameters that enable experiments requiring nanometer-scale focus comparable to capabilities at ESRF-EBS and PETRA III.

Scientific programs and capabilities

Research programs hosted at the center span materials science, structural biology, soft condensed matter and energy-relevant chemistry undertaken by scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratory, Columbia University, Princeton University, Harvard University and international teams from Max Planck Society and Riken. Capabilities include coherent diffractive imaging, x-ray microscopy, scattering and spectroscopy techniques used by investigators funded through grants from National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Energy Office of Science. Collaborative initiatives link the facility with consortia such as Energy Frontier Research Centers, Material Genome Initiative participants and industry partnerships with corporations including IBM, BASF and Boeing.

Major experiments and beamlines

Beamlines were developed in collaboration with university groups from Stony Brook University, Columbia University, SUNY system researchers and national labs including Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Major beamlines provide hard x-ray nanoprobe, tender x-ray spectroscopy, in situ diffraction, time-resolved scattering and macromolecular crystallography used by teams associated with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and pharmaceutical companies such as Merck. Instrumentation projects involved partnerships with instrument makers and academic labs at MIT, Stanford University and University of Michigan to deliver detectors, optics and sample environments tailored for experiments aligned with initiatives from DoD and NIH.

Operations, administration, and funding

Operations are overseen by management structures modeled on practices at Brookhaven Science Associates and informed by policy guidance from U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science and oversight bodies including advisory committees established by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Funding and capital support came from federal appropriations administered through the Department of Energy, supplemented by user access fees and collaborative agreements with universities such as Stony Brook University and consortia including Energy Frontier Research Centers. Administrative coordination with procurement, safety, environment and user programs draws on best practices from Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory management systems.

Impact and scientific contributions

The facility enabled breakthroughs reported by research groups at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Columbia University, Princeton University, Harvard University and international collaborators from Max Planck Society and Riken in areas such as battery materials, catalytic chemistry, high-temperature superconductors and protein structure determination. Findings have been cited in work associated with the Materials Genome Initiative, energy storage research supported by ARPA-E, and biomedical studies funded by National Institutes of Health. The instrument park and user program continue to influence experimental methods adopted at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Advanced Photon Source and other synchrotron centers worldwide, fostering collaborations with industrial partners including Toyota, Siemens and BASF.

Category:Synchrotron radiation facilities Category:Brookhaven National Laboratory