13 May 2011
Institute of Materials Structure Science (IMSS) at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Japan takes measure to secure alternative research opportunities for the users of the Photon Factory (PF) in response to the suspension of PF operation due to the major earthquake on 11 March 2011 in Tohoku, Japan.
PF is a 2.5GeV synchrotron radiation facility at KEK, which accepts over 3,000 users annually from around the world who work on numerous research projects in various scientific fields such as life science and materials science. PF has been forced to suspend its operation since the earthquake.
KEK is apprehensive about possible negative impacts caused by this suspension of PF operation on the advancement of researches that can lead to a broad range of inventions and beneficial applications that synchrotron radiation science can offer. It may also hamper the efforts of fostering next generation researchers. To avoid such an undesirable situation, KEK has made arrangements to reallocate beam time to our researchers with the support of our collaborative laboratories.
KEK has cancelled the operation of PF in spring 2011. After discussion with applicants who proposed to obtain beam time at PF during this period, and arrangements with collaborative synchrotron radiation facilities in Japan, beam time has been allocated to 135 experiments at following eight institutes:
• Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI)
• Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University (IPR)
• Kyushu Synchrotron Light Research Center (SAGA-LS)
• Hiroshima Synchrotron Radiation Center, Hiroshima University (HiSOR)
• Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
• Institute for Molecular Science (IMS)
• National Institutes for Natural Science (NIMS)
• Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo (LASTI)
Details are shown in table 1 (as of 13 May 2011).
| Institutes/Synchrotron radiation facilities | Location | Numbers of experiments accepted | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| JASRI /SPring-8 | Hyogo, Japan | 104 | Life science: 71 Materials science:33 |
| IPR/BL44XU at SPring-8 | Hyogo, Japan | 9 | Life science:9 |
| SAGA-LS | Saga, Japan | 10 | Materials Science:10 |
| HiSOR | Hiroshima. Japan | 4 | Materials Science:4 |
| JAEA/BL22XU and BL23SU at SPring-8 | Hyogo. Japan | 3 | Materials Science:3 |
| IMS/UVSOR | Aichi, Japan | 3 | Materials Science:3 |
| NIMS/BL15XU at SPring-8 | Hyogo, Japan | 1 | Materials Science:1 |
| LASTI/NewSUBARU | Hyogo, Japan | 1 | Materials Science:1 |
| Total | 135 | ||
Following synchrotron radiation facilities around the world also offer beam time:
• Ritsumeikan University SR Center (RITS-SR), Shiga, Japan
• Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), US
• Taiwan Light Source (TLS), Taiwan
• Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), China
• European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), France
• Diamond Light Source (DLS), UK
• Australian Synchrotron (AS), Australia
• Advanced Light Source (ALS), US
• Advanced Photon Source (APS), US
• National Electron Accelerator Laboratory for Synchrotron Radiation Research（MAX-lab）
KEK will provide various supports for researchers who implement their experiments at other facilities through this measure, such as sending PF technicians and/or researchers of KEK to those facilities to ensure them to have the equivalent environment as that assumed at PF.
[ Media Contact ]
Youhei Morita
KEK Press Office
Email: proffice@kek.jp
Phone: +81 29 879 6047
http://www.kek.jp
KEK, the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, is one of the world's leading accelerator science research laboratories, using high-energy particle beams and synchrotron light sources to probe the fundamental properties of matter. With state-of-the-art infrastructure, KEK is advancing our understanding of the universe, its mechanisms, and their control. As an Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, KEK provides large-scale research facility to fulfill the needs of researchers involved in universities across Japan and by cooperating extensively with researchers around the world.
Photon Factory (PF) at KEK, Tsukuba is the first synchrotron light source for the X-ray region in Japan. Since its commission in 1982, PF has been upgraded several times to provide high quality X-rays. Equipped with cutting-edge experimental apparatus, PF has been providing numerous advanced scientific findings in materials and life science.