Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s Australian Synchrotron is a 3 GeV national synchrotron radiation facility located in Clayton, in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, which opened in 2007.

ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron is a light source facility (in contrast to a collider), which uses particle accelerators to produce a beam of high energy electrons that are boosted to nearly the speed of light and directed into a storage ring where they circulate for many hours or even days at a time. As the path of these electrons are deflected in the storage ring by either bending magnets or insertion devices, they emit synchrotron light. The light is channelled to experimental endstations containing specialised equipment, enabling a range of research applications including high resolution imagery that is not possible under normal laboratory conditions.

ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron supports the research needs of Australia’s major universities and research centres, and businesses ranging from small-to-medium enterprises to multinational companies. During 2014-15 the Australian Synchrotron supported more than 4,300 researcher visits and close to 1,000 experiments in areas such as medicine, agriculture, environment, defence, transport, advanced manufacturing and mining.

In 2015, the Australian Government announced a ten-year, A$520 million investment in operations through ANSTO, Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation .

In 2020, it was used to help map the molecular structure of the COVID-19 virus, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Description

The Australian Synchrotron is a cutting-edge scientific research facility located in Clayton, Victoria, Australia. It is a national landmark that serves as a powerful tool for various scientific disciplines, enabling researchers to explore the microscopic world in unprecedented detail. Here is an overview of the Australian Synchrotron and its significance in advancing scientific knowledge:

1. What is a Synchrotron?
   • A synchrotron is a large-scale particle accelerator that produces highly intense beams of light called synchrotron radiation.
   • Synchrotron radiation spans a wide range of wavelengths, from infrared to X-rays, providing researchers with versatile tools for studying matter at the atomic and molecular levels.
2. Establishment and Infrastructure:
   • The Australian Synchrotron was established as a national facility in 2007, jointly funded by the Australian government and the state government of Victoria.
   • The facility encompasses a ring-shaped accelerator, approximately 216 meters in circumference, that accelerates electrons to nearly the speed of light.
   • The accelerator comprises magnets and other components that steer and focus the electron beam, generating synchrotron radiation.
3. Research Capabilities and Scientific Applications:
   • The Australian Synchrotron offers a range of beamlines, specialized areas where synchrotron radiation is harnessed for specific research purposes.
   • Researchers from various scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, materials science, and engineering, utilize the facility to investigate diverse phenomena and materials.
   • The synchrotron’s X-ray beams enable detailed structural analysis of materials, such as determining atomic arrangements and molecular interactions.
   • Researchers can also investigate the chemical composition, electronic properties, and magnetic characteristics of substances with exceptional precision.
4. Scientific Discoveries and Impact:
   • The Australian Synchrotron has played a vital role in numerous scientific breakthroughs and advancements across multiple fields.
   • It has contributed to the development of new materials for energy storage, improved drug delivery methods, and the understanding of diseases at the molecular level.
   • Researchers have utilized the synchrotron’s capabilities to study ancient artifacts, geological samples, and biological structures, unraveling mysteries of the past and shedding light on evolutionary processes.
   • Collaborative efforts between scientists and industry professionals have resulted in innovative applications, from enhancing manufacturing processes to improving the efficiency of solar cells.
5. User Access and Collaborative Research:
   • The Australian Synchrotron operates on a user access model, granting researchers from Australia and around the world the opportunity to conduct experiments and utilize its advanced facilities.
   • Scientists submit research proposals, which undergo rigorous evaluation to ensure scientific merit and feasibility.
   • The synchrotron encourages collaboration among researchers, facilitating interdisciplinary projects and fostering a vibrant scientific community.
6. Education and Outreach:
   • The Australian Synchrotron actively engages in educational and outreach activities to promote scientific literacy and inspire the next generation of scientists.
   • It hosts workshops, conferences, and public lectures, providing opportunities for students, educators, and the general public to learn about synchrotron science and its applications.
   • The facility also offers educational programs and tours, allowing visitors to witness the technology in action and gain insight into the forefront of scientific research.

In summary, the Australian Synchrotron is a prominent research facility that harnesses the power of synchrotron radiation to advance scientific knowledge across a wide range of disciplines. Its state-of-the-art infrastructure and collaborative research environment have made it a valuable asset for scientific exploration and innovation in Australia and beyond.

Accelerator systems

Electron gun

The electrons used to provide the synchrotron light are first produced at the electron gun, by thermionic emission from a heated metal cathode. The emitted electrons are then accelerated to an energy of 90 keV (kilo-electron volts) by a 90 kilovolt potential applied across the gun and make their way into the linear accelerator.

Linear accelerator

The linear accelerator (or linac) uses a series of RF cavities, operating at a frequency of 3 GHz, to accelerate the electron beam to an energy of 100 MeV, over a distance of around 15 metres. Due to the nature of this acceleration, the beam must be separated into discrete packets, or ‘bunches’. The bunching process is done at the start of the linac, using several ‘bunching’ cavities. The linac can accelerate a beam once every second. Further along the linac quadrupole magnets are used to help focus the electron beam.

Booster synchrotron

The booster is an electron synchrotron which takes the 100 MeV beam from the linac and increases its energy to 3 GeV. The booster ring is 130 metres in circumference and contains a single 5-cell RF cavity (operating at 500 MHz) which provides energy to the electron beam. Acceleration of the beam is achieved by a simultaneous ramping up of the magnet strength and cavity fields. Each ramping cycle takes approximately 1 second (for a complete ramp up and down).

Storage ring

The storage ring is the final destination for the accelerated electrons. It is 216 metres in circumference and consists of 14 nearly identical sectors. Each sector consists of a straight section and an arc, with the arcs containing two dipole ‘bending’ magnets each. Each dipole magnet is a potential source of synchrotron light and most straight sections can also host an insertion device, giving the possibility of 30+ beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron. Two of the straight sections are used to host the storage ring 500 MHz RF cavities, which are essential for replacing the energy that the beam loses through synchrotron radiation. The storage ring also contains a large number of quadrupole and sextupole magnets used for beam focusing and chromaticity corrections. The ring is designed to hold 200 mA of stored current with a beam lifetime of over 20 hours.

Vacuum systems

The electron beam is kept within a very high vacuum at all times during the acceleration process and within the storage ring. This vacuum is necessary as any beam collisions with gas molecules will quickly degrade the beam quality and reduce the lifetime of the beam. The vacuum is achieved by enclosing the beam in a stainless steel pipe system, with numerous vacuum pump systems continually working to keep the vacuum quality high. Pressure within the storage ring is typically around 10⁻¹³ bar (10 nPa).

Control system

Each digital and analogue I/O channel is associated with a database entry in a customised distributed open source database system called EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). The condition of the system is monitored and controlled by connecting specialised GUIs to the specified database entries. There are about 171,000 database entries (also known as process variables), many of which relate to the physical I/O. About 105,000 of these are permanently archived at intervals ranging from tenths of a seconds to minutes.

Some high level control of the physics-related parameters of the beam is provided through MATLAB which also provides data analysis tools and an interface with a computerised model of the accelerator. Personnel and equipment protection is achieved through the use of PLC-based systems, which also transfer data to EPICS.

The Beamlines also use EPICS as the basis for their control.

Australian Synchrotron beamlines

• Imaging and Medical Beamline (IMBL)
• X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy (XFM) beamline
• Macromolecular and Micro crystallography (MX1 and MX2) beamlines (Protein crystallography)
• Infrared microscopy (IRM) beamline
• Far Infrared, THz Spectroscopy (THz) beamline
• Soft X-ray Spectroscopy (SXR) beamline
• Small and Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS/WAXS) beamline
• X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) beamline
• Powder diffraction (PD) beamline

Beamlines under construction (as of 2021)

• Micro Computed Tomography (MCT)
• Medium Energy X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (MEX1 and MEX2)
• Biological Small Angle Scattering (BioSAXS)
• Advanced Diffraction and Scattering (ADS1 and ADS2)
• X-ray Fluorescence NanoProbe (Nano)
• High Performance Macromolecular Crystallography (MX3)

References