Synchrotron Radiation facilities around the world

There are many research centers around the world that use synchrotron radiation, an extremely bright light, to observe the shape, movement, and color of various objects.

World map of SR facilities（PDF）　download

Researchers from industry and academia gather at these facilities with their research topics.

Making the best use of Synchrotron Radiation facilities is the key to making our world a better place.

There are nine SR facilities in Japan, the last of which was built about 20 years ago. Since then, many modern facilities have been built around the world.

A state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation facility is being constructed in Sendai, and it is scheduled to start operating in 2023.

In the future, we can all use these facilities to make discoveries and create new things to improve our society and make the world a better place.

Synchrotron light in the starry sky

What is synchrotron radiation?

In the night sky, far away, is the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula.

The glow of the Crab Nebula is produced by synchrotron radiation.

Producing synchrotron light on earth

The synchrotron radiation facility currently under construction in Sendai is a giant microscope where we can create and use synchrotron radiation.

In Japan, there is the world's largest synchrotron radiation facility, "SPring-8".

SPring-8 has a circular accelerator with a circumference of about 1,500 meters.
The circumference of the circular accelerator in the new facility will be 350 meters, about a quarter of the length of the one at SPring-8.

Why is the facility circular in shape?

The electrons released by the electron gun are accelerated to almost the speed of light by a linear accelerator, and then guided into a circular accelerator where they orbit and emit synchrotron radiation.

Magnets bend the direction of the electrons which are travelling at nearly the speed of light.

The accelerator consists of a vacuum tube that serves as a pathway for electrons accelerated to the speed of light, many magnets that control the direction of the electrons, and an acceleration cavity that supplies the lost energy of the electrons.

When electrons accelerated to the speed of light are bent, some of the energy of the electrons is stripped away and a straight, bright light is emitted. This is synchrotron radiation.

The circular accelerator continues to orbit the electrons, supplying them with the energy that has been released as synchrotron light.

Many magnets in a row

At the new facility, magnets with different roles (red, blue, and yellow) are grouped together and placed in 16 locations, as shown in the picture below.

In the gaps between those magnets, special magnets that look like piano keys (called insertion devices) are installed to provide brighter synchrotron light.

At the new facility, we can use synchrotron radiation at 28 locations simultaneously.

Using synchrotron light to see things

We can place an object that we want to examine at the end of the emitted synchrotron light. The irradiated light interacts with the object. It is then detected by the machine’s eyes, its features are worked out by the machine’s brain, and the result is then converted into an image that can be seen by a human.

Even "nano-worlds", which are not visible with the naked eye, can be seen with the help of synchrotron radiation and these machines.