The Advanced Photon Source (APS) is one of the world’s top x-ray light sources, and a massive upgrade in progress will enhance its capabilities even more. When the APS Upgrade Project is finished, the facility will generate x-rays that are up to 500 times brighter than the already incredibly bright ones it produces now, opening the door to scientific discovery on a scale we have yet to imagine.
But from the outside, the APS — a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory — won’t look much different.
The most visible sign that the upgrade is proceeding is the Long Beamline Building (LBB), home to two of the stations where researchers will carry out cutting-edge science experiments using the brighter x-ray beams. Construction of this new building has progressed ahead of schedule since its groundbreaking ceremony on July 22, 2020, and is on track for completion in June 2022.
The entire Argonne feature story by Kristen Mally Dean can be read here.
The Advanced Photon Source is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.
The U.S. Department of Energy's APS is one of the world’s most productive x-ray light source facilities. Each year, the APS provides high-brightness x-ray beams to a diverse community of more than 5,000 researchers in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, the life and environmental sciences, and applied research. Researchers using the APS produce over 2,000 publications each year detailing impactful discoveries, and solve more vital biological protein structures than users of any other x-ray light source research facility. APS x-rays are ideally suited for explorations of materials and biological structures; elemental distribution; chemical, magnetic, electronic states; and a wide range of technologically important engineering systems from batteries to fuel injector sprays, all of which are the foundations of our nation’s economic, technological, and physical well-being.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the U.S. DOE Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the Office of Science website.