Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource - History

History

In 1972 the first x-ray beamline was constructed by Ingolf Lindau and Piero Pianetta as literally a "hole in the wall" extending off of the SPEAR (Stanford Positron Electron Asymmetric Ring) storage ring. At that time, the SPEAR had been built in an era of particle colliders, where physicists were more interested in smashing particles together in hope of discovering antimatter then in using x-ray radiation for solid state physics and chemistry. From those meager beginnings the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Project (SSRP) began. Within a short time SSRP had five experimental hutches sharing the radiation of only a few inches of the curved SPEAR dipole magnets. Each one of those stations was equipped with a monochromator to select the radiation of interest, and experimenters would bring their samples and end stations from all over the world to study the unique effects only achieved through synchrotron radiation. Today the SPEAR storage ring is dedicated completely to the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource as part of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory facility. SSRL currently operates 24/7 for about nine solid months out of the year; the remaining time is used for major maintenance and upgrades where direct access to the storage ring is needed. There are over 30 unique experimental stations which are made available to users from universities, government labs, and industry from all over the world.

Read more about this topic:  Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.
    Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)

    There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to “realize” myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have “succeeded” this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is “realizable.” Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is.
    Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)

    History, as an entirety, could only exist in the eyes of an observer outside it and outside the world. History only exists, in the final analysis, for God.
    Albert Camus (1913–1960)