The Department of Energy’s synchrotron radiation sources
The Message we* bring:
The Synchrotron User community
Why are Synchrotrons unusually important facilities?
Examples of Synchrotron Science
The Value to the USA of fundamental science
Losing our assets: what budget trends will mean
*Prepared by the chairs of the four users organizations.
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
The Synchrotron User community
•~ 9000 faculty, students, industrial and government scientists
•~350 fundamental science theses per year
•~3000 published papers per year (peer-reviewed journals)
•Dramatic research gains in every discipline important for the
health of the economy and of our citizens, and in new areas
vital to our future success and competitiveness:
New Medicines and Disease Treatments
Human and Molecular Biology
National Security
Electronic Materials and Devices
Energy Production, Storage and Conversion
Materials Chemistry and Nanotechnology
Environmental Sciences
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Why are Synchrotrons unusually important facilities?
Synchrotrons make light----photons---over a wide energy range
from infra-red to visible light to hard x-rays
The light is more than a billion times brighter than the sun,
enabling experiments not otherwise possible
(things smaller, more dilute, more fleeting)
Such light can be used in an enormous range of investigations
on any materials (for example):
•determining atomic scale and nanoscale STRUCTURE in
proteins, semiconductors, nanoparticles
•ANALYZING and IDENTIFYING trace quantities of harmful
substances in lakes, oceans, air, soils, or human tissues
•Determining the MECHANISM by which superconductors work,
cells respire, diseases infect, and catalysts operate
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Examples of Synchrotron Science
The molecular biology of Anthrax
infection
Anthrax toxin
PA83
Cell receptor
(CMG2)
Initial phase of infection:
•Anthrax Toxin binds to cell receptor
•Toxin undergoes rearrangement
•Rearranged toxin then binds with other
Anthrax toxin enzymes
• These enzymes enter and kill victim’s cell
By understanding the chemical details of the toxin-cell binding,
drugs to treat Anthrax or produce immunity are possible.
Study of this mechanism also reveals a possible Cancer treatment
•The Anthrax toxic unit also binds to a tumor marker which is common on cancer cells
•The toxin might be taylored to specifically interrupt cancer mechanisms
Santelli et al., Nature 430: 905-908 (2004)
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Is there a Speed Limit on magnetic recording?
Two goals of technology are: smaller and faster
We know the smallest possible size for single bits of magnetic recording.
But what is the speed limit? How fast can we write data?
An experiment using the SLAC linear accelerator gives us a limit!
Pulses of electrons from the SLAC Linac with
duration of 5 ps (.000000000005 s) switch
magnetization in a 70 micron spot of media
Powerful magnetic field surrounds electron bunch
After one write pulse a ring of magnetized area is produced,
But after 7 rewrites this region shows blurring due to randomized
magnetization. “Writing” bits is not reliable at this speed.
This result is not predicted by current theory and indicates:
•That a new magnetization mechanism must operate at these speeds
•An upper limit for recording is about 200X faster than now available.
Tudosa et al., Nature 428:831-835 (2004)
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
A Major Discovery for Tiny Devices
Synchrotron-based research has shown that the
ability to generate and hold a switchable electric
field (ferroelectric behavior) is possible in materials
as thin as 1.2 nanometers (one-billionth of a meter,
several hundred thousand times smaller than the
period at the end of this sentence).
Ferroelectric thin films have a broad range of
applications for both military and industrial
equipment including specialized light and infra-red
sensors, memory systems involving holographic
optical storage of unprecedented capacity, tuneable
microwave components (useful for phase-array
radar), and microelectromechanical systems.
The technological potential of these materials
depends on maintaining stable ferroelectric
properties as electronic devices continue to be
miniaturized. Studying such devices requires
Synchrotron-based techniques.
Fong et al., Science 304:1650 (2004)
Strength of ferroelectricity over a range of
temperateures and film thicknesses as
measured by x-ray scattering intensity. Films
only a few atoms thick are able to retain an
electric polarization, meaning that
extremely tiny useful devices are possible.
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Clues in the fight against cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a debilitating disease
that causes malfunction of the lungs,
liver, pancreas, and reproductive tract,
usually leading to death by middle age.
Knowing more about the cellular
changes that cause the disease would
greatly aid the search for drugs to
combat its effects.
Deletion of a single amino acid in a
membrane channel protein is known to
cause cystic fibrosis, and the
mechanism by which it does so was
thought to be understood.
However, new synchrotron data are
surprising in that they show the mutant
protein to behave in a completely
different way than previously proposed.
These new data suggest promising
ways in which to use pharmaceuticals
against cystic fibrosis.
Ribbon diagram for the human NBD1 channel protein. Cystic
fibrosis is caused by the deletion of a single amino acid in this
protein, in the location of the red patch at lower left.
Lewis et al., J. Biol. Chem. 280(2): 1346 (2005)
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Scientists Create Nanoscale “Water Wires”
• A “water wire” is a strand of water molecules
less than one nanometer in width. In cells,
water wires conduct protons across cell
membranes. The protons “hop” across the
water molecules.
• Using pressure, scientists formed water
wires within natrolite, a mineral. Increasing
the temperature changed the wires’
orientation, which changed the protons’
hopping direction.
• This work allows scientists to study very
small clusters of water, which behave much
differently than bulk water.
Understanding such “nano-water” is
fundamental to predicting water chemistry
and reactions at interfaces, within pores, at
cell membranes, and in airborne particles.
The orientation of the water wires (water molecules are
shown as red balls) as they exist within the natrolite
structure at room temperature and 200 degrees Celsius.
Upon heating, the wires change direction. The yellow
balls represent sodium ions.
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Lee et al., Nano Letters 4(4): 619-621 (2004)
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
A Brain Cell Gateway
• Cell membrane proteins form
“channels” within a cell membrane
that allow key materials to flow in
and out of the cell.
• Scientists have determined the
structure of a membrane protein
that transports glutamate, a
chemical essential for normal brain
development and function, in and
out of brain cells.
• This structure helps explain how
glutamate enters and exits brain
cells, which may help researchers
develop treatments for neural
conditions based on glutamate
dysfunction, such as Alzheimer’s
disease and depression.
The structure of the glutamate-transporter
cell membrane protein, from a view parallel
to the cell membrane. “Out” indicates the
outside of the cell and “in” indicates the
inside of the cell.
Yernool et al., Nature 431: 811-818 (2004)
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Spectroscopic studies of water,
solutions, and liquid-solid interfaces
• Highly brilliant synchrotron radiation and novel
apparatus enable an unprecedented view of water,
other liquids, and their interfaces
• Crucial for wide range of science and technology:
•
•
•
•
•
Environmental science (toxin movement, sequestration)
Thin film electronic devices (solar cells, sensors)
Biological systems (implants, cell functions)
Fundamental understanding (water structure)
Engineering (water treatment and purity)
hνexcitation
hνemission
1 µm Polyimide
1.3 µm H2O
1.3 µm Al
Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2
Mo
soda-lime glass
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
More Powerful Computers for the Information Age
Improved computational power comes from shrinking transistors to squeeze more of them into a
microprocessor. Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography is the likely next generation technology
to make those continued improvements possible. The pioneering work done with synchrotron
radiation has driven this technology forward toward commercialization.
EUV lithography exposure tool using
synchrotron radiation
Printed image showing 39 nm features
Consortium includes:
Sandia, LLNL, LBNL,
Intel, AMD, MicronTech.,
Infineon Tech., and IBM.
Current technology will allow manufacturers to print circuits as small as 0.1 micron in width,
or 1/1,000th the width of a human hair. EUV lithography technology will extend this down to
30 nm or less (.03 microns), continuing the advance of computing technology.
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
The Value to the USA of fundamental science
Value to the Economy:
“73% of the main science papers cited by American industrial patents… [in 19951997]…involved domestic and foreign research financed by government or non-profit
agencies…. This shows the close connection between national science budgets and
the economy…” Keynote address by Nobelist Jerome Friedman (Physics MIT) at the
conference: Infrastructure for e-business, e-Education, e-Science, and e-Medicine.
August, 2002, quoting a 1997 MIT study.
Value to National Security:
“The US Government has seriously underfunded basic scientific research in recent
years… the inadequacies of our systems of research and education pose a greater threat
to US national security over the next quarter century than any potential conventional war
that we might imagine. American national leadership must understand these deficiencies
as threats to national security.” Road Map for National Security: Imperative for Change.
Phase III report of the US (Hart-Rudman) Commission on National Security/21st century
1/2001 p. ix
Congress has worked hard in recent years to prevent damage to DOE science programs,
but the fiscal constraints have taken a toll that looks to worsen.
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Results of underfunding, especially when other nations are accelerating
comparable efforts, are erosion in leadership fields, and loss of
innovative ability and competitiveness
S&E article distribution
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
DOE leads the Government in Fundamental
Physical Science Research
Top Five Government Basic Research Organizations for*:
Physical
Sciences
Environmental
Sciences
Mathematics
& Computing
Life
Sciences
1. Energy (1,428)
1. NASA (534)
1. NSF (555)
1. NIH (10,502)
2. NASA (715)
2. NSF (523)
2. DOD (205)
2. USDA (791)
3. NSF (556)
3. Energy (227)
3. Energy (147)
3. DOD (576)
4. NIH (263)
4. DOD (162)
5. NASA (20)
4. NSF (447)
5. DOD (224)
5. NIH (139)
4. NIH (17)
5. Energy (206)
The Department of Energy is by far the largest supporter of
fundamental physical science in the US, led by its synchrotron, neutron
and high energy facilities.
 Numbers are for FY 2001 in millions scaled to the FY 1999 Dollar - Source: NSF -- Federal Funds for Research and
Development Fiscal Years 2001, 2002, and 2003 -- Federal obligations for basic research, by agency and field of
science and engineering.
All Energy funds are from the Office of Science for FY 2001
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
A Significant and Dramatic increase in our fundamental
science output is due to our synchrotron sources
7000
6000
The powerful utility of these sources
is obvious to the rest of the world:
US Scientists use the DOE
synchrotrons in everincreasing numbers:
APS
• 10 worldwide sources existed in 1980
• 28 worldwide sources in 1990
• 50+ worldwide sources with several
in construction 2004
5000
ALS
Number of USERS
4000
SSRL
3000
The US has the 4 major DOE Light
Sources and several smaller sources
2000
NSLS
1000
0
'82 '83 '84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 00
FISCAL YEAR
01
02
03
04
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
Losing our assets: what budget trends will mean
Despite the value to the national
interests, and the growing user
community, the FY ‘06
Presidential budget will have a
serious effect on BES
Synchrotron and Neutron
Sources
Lost highly-trained staff supporting these
sophisticated facilities will be difficult to
replace.
An increase of $ 36M is needed
in FY 2006 just to prevent loss of
key staff and a large decrease in
user access
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05
To reliably secure their funding base for the future, the $36M for the Light Sources should
be part of $100M in FY 2006 for restored facility operations across the DOE Science Complex.
 That should also be coupled with an additional $270M to restore cuts to the core research
support (individual researchers, etc) to bring 06 spending power up to the levels
appropriated by Congress in FY 2005.
To maximize returns for
the taxpayer’s investment
in science in the years
ahead, DOE SC’s budget
would go to the levels
contemplated in DOE’s 20
year Strategic Plan and
proposed in several
authorization bills that
have passed the House
and Senate easily. The
latest authorization, HR
610, lays out these levels
as shown in the chart.
DOE Light Source Users Org DC Trip 4/8/05