The popularity of synchrotron radiation facilities continues to grow, spurred by their usefulness for studying the structure and dynamics of materials ranging from membrane proteins to nanocomposites. In response to the growing demand, the newest synchrotron storage rings provide more brilliant radiation beams—that is, beams having greater fluxes of photons per unit area and solid angle—and they allow more room for arrays of magnets that wiggle the electrons, causing them to generate highly collimated beams of radiation.
So where to go from here? Many types of experiments require shorter, more flexible pulses and greater brilliance. For example, pulses as short as 100 femtoseconds would enable studies of structural dynamics, and brighter, better collimated beams would allow the use of smaller samples.
To move forward, researchers at a number of accelerator centers are eyeing an x-ray light source in which electrons are accelerated by what’s known as an energy-recovery linear accelerator...
