Advanced Light Sources and Crystallography Tools of Discovery and Innovation
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Advanced Light Sources and Crystallography Tools of Discovery and Innovation Published by LAAMP, Lightsources for Africa, the Americas and Middle East Project, an International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) project funded by the International Council for Science (ICSU) Advanced Light Sources and Crystallography INTRODUCTION What are light sources? What is crystallography? 1 Why care about light sources? 2 How does a light source work? 4 Research at an advanced light source facility 6 Education and outreach 7 APPLICATIONS Applications to nanomaterials 8 Structural biology. Powerful tools to study the biology of diseases 10 Photo: HubbleSite: gallery, release Applications to energy 12 Study of materials under extreme conditions 13 Applications to forensic science 14 Research on ancient fossils. Palaeontology 15 Research on ancient materials. Archaeology 16 〉 High technology centres feed industry 17 The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova explosion that occurred in AD 1054. It is about THE IMPACT OF ADVANCED LIGHT SOURCES 6,500 light years from the Earth. Energetic ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 18 electrons from the explosion follow curved JOBS AND CAREERS AT LIGHT SOURCES 20 paths caused by the strong magnetic field in the nebula and emit synchrotron light, just as do FUTURE 21 advanced light sources here on Earth. The cover of this LAAMP Brochure was designed by Italian artist, Luciano Martinis (Aquielia, Italy). Martinis writes: “The image comes from my personal interpretation of the light emanating from matter. In fact, having no real pictures of what occurs inside the synchrotron, I have worked as an artist inspired by my personal relationship with matter, time and light.” What are light sources? What is crystallography? Not all light is visible. In science and technology the word light applies generally to electromagnetic radiation. Most wavelengths of light are not visible. Light sources generate radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray light. Advanced light sources are much more intense than conventional sources, such as light bulbs and traditional lasers. Image Credit: Derived from a chart from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Different wavelengths of light compared to sizes of various objects. To see an object we need light with a wavelength that is equal to or less than the size of the object. The smallest object we can see with visible light is a cell. To see the details of the constituents of a cell, e.g. proteins, we need a shorter wavelength such as X-rays. Crystallography is the science that examines the arrangement of atoms in solids and there is a close connection between the science of Cyrstallography and much of the work done at Advanced Light Source Facilities. Well-focused X-ray beams, generated by advanced synchrotron radiation facilities, yielded high-resolution diffraction data from crystals of ribosomes, the cellular nano-machines that translate the genetic code into proteins. Ada Yonath, 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1 INTRODUCTION Why care about light sources? bserving matter and decoding its Advanced light sources are revolutionising a Advanced light sources are the ultimate means secrets are at the heart of humanity’s myriad of fundamental, applied and industrial of characterising materials in our age. They Oquest to understand the world around us. sciences, including agriculture, archaeology, open insights to micro- and nano- structures Advanced light sources offer unique tools biology, biomedicine, chemistry, cultural of manufactured materials that are not possible to expand the boundaries of scientific investi- heritage studies, engineering, energy, envi- to obtain in any other way. Industry recognises gations into new materials and living matter. ronmental science, forensic science, geology, this, and is an increasing user of advanced light As centres for fundamental and applied materials science, nanotechnology, new drugs, sources to support research and innovation in research, light sources play a key role in stim- palaeontology and physics. product development. ulating innovation and enhancing industrial These facilities have major impacts on the competitiveness. education and training of graduate students, our future scientists. ALBA, a synchrotron light facility near Barcelona allows the visualisation of the atomic structure of matter as well as the study of its properties. Courtesy: Hans Braun, PSI Courtesy: ALBA A free electron laser (FEL) is another type of advanced light source. This one is nearing completion and beginning operation at the Paul Scherrer Institute near Bern in Switzerland. 2 INTRODUCTION More than 50 advanced light source facilities are As the map shows, there are none in operation, construction in the entire continent of Africa, or planning. and only one in Latin America. Credit: lightsources.org Credit: Advanced light sources are key to research material and medical sciences, and other frontiers in many disciplines and industries disciplines have done world-class research TO LEARN MORE — sometimes addressing current scientific, for their Ph.D. theses at light sources around ⌵ commercial and educational needs of a partic- the world. Providing such a resource was a ↷http://lightsources.org ular country or region. Thousands of graduate major motivation for many countries to start students in biology, chemistry, environmental, their light sources in the mid-1980s. The National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States is one of the world’s newest and brightest light sources, serving up to Courtesy: Brookheaven Laboratory. National 6,000 users per year. 3 INTRODUCTION How does a light source work? cceleration is a change in speed or direction of motion. When they are accelerated all A electrically charged particles emit light (produce radiation.) Both protons and electrons when they are accelerated can emit light but electrons emit vastly more than protons. All advanced light sources use electrons. There are two major types of advanced light sources:circular , doughnut-shaped electron storage rings called synchrotrons or synchrotron light sources, and linear, free-electron lasers (FELs). Each synchrotron radiation facility is different and has somewhat different capabilities. However, in general, the complex is like a chain composed of links. Each link in the chain accelerates the electrons further and injects them into the next link in the chain. Details below are for the medium-energy Diamond ring. CIRCULAR. When an electron beam passes between the north and south poles of a magnet its path is curved. It changes direction and emits light. The electrons can be stored and circulate in a ring for periods of up to a day. As the electrons turn they emit electro magnetic LCLS, The Linac Coherent Light Source at Stanford radiation, both visible and invisible, from very long wavelengths (infra-red) to very short University’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory wavelengths (X-rays). Since the radiation is emitted tangentially to the ring, many beam lines in California, one of the world’s first linear free- can be constructed, and scientists can take data simultaneously. electron lasers. Electron gun. Electrons “evaporate” from a hot surface and are accelerated to 90,000 electron volts (90 keV) of energy. Linac (linear accelerator) is the first of 3 particle accelerators in this chain; electrons are accelerated from 90 keV to 100 million electron volts (100 MeV). Booster. Bending magnets curve the This sketch shows the specifics of Diamond Light Source, electrons around a circle, and a radio-fre- the UK National Synchrotron Science Facility, located quency source accelerates them to 3 GeV on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, UK. 4 INTRODUCTION LINEAR. Making light from electron beams. An undulator is an “insertion device” Conventional lasers make their extraordi- because it is “inserted” into the accelerator narily useful light by jiggling electrons bound track. It is used in both circular and linear in atoms. Accelerator-driven free-electron advanced light sources and is a periodic lasers (FELs) make light by using magnets magnetic structure with the north and called undulators to jiggle electrons that are south poles of the magnets alternating freed from atoms. The pulses from a FEL are in orientation. The undulator stimulates a thousand times shorter than those from a highly brilliant, forward-directed synchro- storage ring and many times more intense. tron radiation emission by forcing a charged This has opened up exciting new possibilities particle beam to perform wiggles (accelera- for research in many diverse fields. A disad- tions), or undulations, as it passes through vantage of FELs is the comparatively small the device. number of beamlines that can be operated simultaneously. Credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Accelerator SLAC National Credit: Brilliance When comparing light sources, an (3 giga or billion electron volts) before important measure of quality called being transferred into the storage ring. The brilliance, takes into account the storage ring consists of straight sections number of photons produced per angled together to form a closed loop second, how fast the beam spreads approximately 600 m in circumference. out, the beam size and the spread in It is filled every 10 minutes with a new frequencies or wavelengths in the batch of electrons. At some facilities