Let there be light

When you approach the UK’s next generation synchrotron light source building and get a sense of the shear size and scale of it - it’s over half a kilometre in circumference, it is hard to believe that the powerful synchrotron light it will generate was once a mere by-product of a certain type of particle accelerator

Diamond Light Source is currently being built next to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the Oxfordshire countryside, just 15 miles south of Oxford city.

To understand the history of the powerful light that Diamond will use to drive its experiments when operations begin in January 2007, you need to look back to the 1940’s.   In a quest to produce particles with even greater energies, a new type of particle accelerator - called a synchrotron - was built at Woolwich, the Naval base on the outskirts of London, in the UK in 1946. A by-product of accelerating particles was the production of “synchrotron light”, observed for the first time in 1947 at General Electric, USA. Initially, synchrotron light was considered a nuisance as it caused the accelerated particles to lose energy. However, by 1958 a few far-sighted scientists recognised the potential of synchrotron light and devised a number of ground breaking experiments at Cornell University in the USA. Since then, the use of synchrotron light has blossomed and there are now around 50 major facilities worldwide providing a wide range of scientists with numerous methods to investigate the world around us.

In 1981 the UK made a huge contribution to international synchrotron light research by building the world’s first dedicated Synchrotron Light Source (SRS), at the CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire.  The SRS was a pioneering facility and has been used for many purposes - from probing the structure of proteins to investigating the properties of polymers, concrete and even chocolate.  Achievements at the SRS include determining the structure of the Foot and Mouth virus.  This work was led by Prof David Stuart from Oxford University.  In addition, the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognised Paul Boyer and Prof John Walker for their work using synchrotron light to obtain a detailed picture of F1-ATPase, which helped to understand how this tiny molecular machine continuously rotates and generates energy to be used by the body.

The Woolfson Report of 1993 identified the need for a new and improved, UK based machine to supersede the current facility. This paved the way for the UK science community to begin planning Diamond Light Source - a 10 year long dream that is now becoming a reality.

Diamond’s synchrotron light                    

This new science facility is housed in a striking doughnut-shaped building covering the size of 5 football pitches. Diamond is funded 86% by the Government through CCLRC, the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils, and 14% by the Wellcome Trust and is the largest single investment in science by the UK for over 30 years. The facility will ultimately host as many as 40 research stations, supporting the life, physical and environmental sciences. Diamond wishes to see a thriving research community addressing important scientific problems that will impact on our fundamental understanding of life and provide a basis for practical advances in medical, environmental and industrial applications.

A synchrotron uses properties of accelerated electrons to produce an intense beam of photons in the wavelength range from hard X-rays to infrared radiation.  By taking advantage of new technological developments in accelerator technology for production of X-rays, Diamond will produce a beam that will equal, if not surpass, in brightness the beams produced by other synchrotrons around the world. The quality of the photon beam will be complemented by purpose built experimental laboratories supported by scientific and technical staff. Visiting researchers will also benefit from Diamond’s proximity to complementary research facilities on the Chilton Harwell science campus, including the ISIS neutron facility, the Central Laser Facility, computing and networking facilities, secure data handling and conveniently located accommodation. In future years a research complex will be built alongside Diamond to promote and exploit research at the synchrotron and other facilities on site.

How will Diamond help science?

In 2007, Diamond will provide eight experimental stations.

• Macromolecular Crystallography. Three macromolecular crystallography beam lines will be dedicated to determining the structures of complex biological molecules and will be of particular interest to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and speciality chemical sectors as well as promoting fundamental biological research.

• Materials and Magnetism. This beam line will probe the atomic structure of electronic and magnetic materials, and will be important for companies in the electronics, photonics, magnetic storage, and speciality chemical sectors.

• Extreme Conditions. Extreme conditions will be investigated with an instrument able to examine materials at very high temperatures and under intense pressures (such as those encountered in the Earth’s core), and will be of interest in the study of advanced materials for a range of challenging industrial applications, as well as geophysical studies.

• Microspectroscopy. An X-ray microscope will provide element-specific spectroscopic techniques with a high spatial resolution, allowing the mapping of elements and compounds within complex materials.

• Nanotechnology. An instrument will image structures to resolutions of a few nanometres and will be a key tool in the development of sensors, medical devices, optoelectronic and electronic systems. It will use the photoelectric effect to image specimens in electron microscope mode.

• Non-crystalline diffraction. Non-crystalline diffraction will be used for studying large, complex structures including viruses, polymers and colloids. This beam line is officially part of Phase II, but will be completed early and commissioned during 2007.

The range of applications that Diamond will offer to the international research community is extremely varied and builds on the many achievements of the current synchrotrons. There are a host of purely academic research questions that Diamond’s experimental stations will be able to help find answers to. These relate to fields as diverse as superconductivity, particle interactions, spintronics, nanoscale electrical and mechanical engineering, and the structure of proteins and DNA. 
However, synchrotron light is not only useful for blue sky research and can also assist with everyday endeavours such as designing new materials, studying corrosion in cars, aeroplanes and pipelines, investigating pollution levels in the environment, developing revolutionary new drugs, and understanding food and consumer production processes. This uniquely bright and intense light can reveal, treat and transform a vast range of materials. University researchers are the core users of synchrotron light, but manufacturers of consumer products through to high-tech start-ups have already benefited from the sort of data that will be generated at Diamond.

What benefits will Diamond bring?

Biology & Medicine
Medical scientists are continually striving for a world free from disease.  The race is permanently on to develop new drugs, so that both emerging and long-standing diseases can be prevented or eradicated.  But how do scientists go about winning the race? 

Solving the sequence of the human genome has been the first step towards developing medicines tailored to our individual genetic make-up. ‘Rational’ drug design is based on understanding the molecular basis of both the disease and the potential remedies.  A vital piece in this complex jigsaw is slotted into place by a special technique called X-ray crystallography, using intense X-rays from synchrotron sources.

The fight against illnesses such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis and many cancers will benefit from the new research techniques available at Diamond.  Investigating the structures of the proteins involved in these diseases and others will help scientists to understand them better, opening new avenues for treatment. For example, the ‘anti-Flu’ drug Relenza, which was developed using structural information provided by synchrotron light, was a huge milestone in biomedical science.  It illustrates the exciting potential of rational drug design and the role that will increasingly be played by X-ray techniques.

Physical & Chemical Sciences
Without innovative, pioneering materials to choose from, UK industry would struggle to compete in the fast-moving world of product design. Often, understanding the structure of a new material is the key to perfecting the performance of the final product.

For electronic devices such as transistors, purity is crucial. The tiniest defect can ruin the quality of the entire component, leading to expensive waste during manufacture. Built up from layers of semi-conductor materials only a few atoms thick, transistors are notoriously difficult to visualise. Using a synchrotron source, engineers can image structures down to an atomic scale, helping them to understand the way impurities and defects behave and how they can be controlled.

Environment & Earth Sciences
Pollution is a major problem facing the world today. Understanding how contaminants make their way into the environment and how to counteract them is a major challenge.
Some plants and micro-organisms have a natural ability to absorb toxic metals from contaminated land. Diamond will help researchers to understand how this happens and to identify organisms that target specific types of contaminant, opening up cheap and effective ways for cleaning up polluted land.
Already synchrotron light has helped scientists to understand the mechanisms and chemistry behind Cadmium contamination from industrial and mining activity in Wales.  It is a highly toxic, bioavailable metal which is known to concentrate in soils.  The study using the synchrotron has shown it exists mainly as adsorbed species on iron oxyhyrdoxides which are ubiquitous in soils (e.g. as goethite, FeOOH) and as colloids in acid mine drainage waters. Thus by employing filters in the drainage waters to trap the iron particles scientists can be sure that they are also trapping the cadmium.

Diamond has the capability to make a significant impact on 21st century life and it is hoped that synchrotron light will meet the future aspirations of both the scientific and industrial research communities.
By Silvana Damerell, Diamond Light Source, Oxfordshire