China is preparing to activate a new and powerful X-ray light source that will reveal the atomic-scale structure of proteins and materials. Operators expect light to start flowing into experimental beamlines at the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) near Beijing by the end of December. This facility will be one of the very few “fourth-generation” synchrotrons in the world.
How It Works
HEPS accelerates electrons to high energies and bends them around a circular path, causing the particles to emit synchrotron radiation—mainly short-wavelength “hard” X-rays. These intense, laser-like X-rays are directed to 14 beamlines, which scientists will use to image materials and biological structures at atomic to nanometer scales and capture snapshots of chemical reactions in nanosecond timeframes.
Mingda Li, who studies the quantum properties of materials at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and chairs the user executive committee for the Advanced Photon Source (APS)—a U.S. Department of Energy synchrotron at Argonne National Laboratory—compares the facility’s impact to getting a powerful new telescope:
“You can see things that were previously unobservable. This is very exciting for the synchrotron community.”
What It Will Be Used For
In structural biology, HEPS will allow scientists to image entire cells and viruses as well as study cellular machines like the protein-assembling ribosome. Dong Yuhui, deputy director of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which will operate HEPS, says:
“We will be able to see protein machines in their natural environments at high resolution.”
However, Dong notes that one of the biggest challenges will be managing the massive amount of data produced by such experiments.
Project Progress
IHEP first proposed HEPS in 2008 and began constructing the ¥4.76 billion (US$657 million) complex a decade later. The IHEP team is now awaiting final review and an operating license from the National Development and Reform Commission of China. After in-house scientists get the first beams by the end of December, the HEPS user committee plans to issue a call for broader research proposals, possibly by late January 2025.
“That will make everyone happy,” Dong says.
Competition for beam time is expected to be fierce. At APS, for example, only one in five proposals gets approved. APS, which reopened its beamlines in June after major upgrades, became the first fourth-generation light source in the U.S. Eric Isaacs, a condensed matter physicist and former director of Argonne, states:
“HEPS will have similar beam quality and could compete with the upgraded APS. Both are fantastic machines.”
HEPS is Asia’s first fourth-generation synchrotron. Next up is Japan’s SPring-8 facility, which is set to begin upgrades next year, transforming into SPring-8-II by 2029. The goal is to increase its brightness more than 100-fold, making it the world’s most powerful synchrotron. Meanwhile, HEPS won’t be standing still—Dong says IHEP plans to add 30 to 32 more beamlines over the next five years.
Source:
Stone, R. (2024, November 22). China poised to turn on one of the world’s most powerful sources of X-ray light. Science.org. Retrieved November 25, 2024, from https://www.science.org/content/article/china-poised-turn-one-world-s-most-powerful-sources-x-ray-light
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