CHESS-U

Focusing on our users and the unique capabilities of CHESS, CHESS-U is an upgrade that will extend CHESS’s capacity for cutting-edge, innovative science and technology. This will be achieved by replacing of one-sixth of the CESR storage ring with modern multibend achromats and by replacing or upgrading the x-ray beamlines to take greatest advantage of the new undulator sources.

CHESS-U blueprint

Conceptual design of beamlines: Operating with a single beam instead of with counter-rotating electron and positron beams will eliminate many of the performance limitations associated with the present 2-beam operation as well as enable all beam lines to be aligned to a single beam orbit.

At the completion of CHESS-U in 2018, CHESS will be the premier synchrotron source in the US for high-energy, high-flux x-ray studies.

High Flux + High Energy = High Penetration

High-energy x-rays (20-150keV) have a wavelength short enough that diffraction can determine the distance between atoms and energy well above electron binding energies, minimizing photoelectric absorption and enhancing penetration. These characteristics are key requirement for in-situ and operando studies of materials at the macroscopic level. The horizontal emittance of the ribbon shaped beam created in CHESS-U will be ~30 nanometers, allowing users to perform experiments like never before!

This upgrade will enable new scientific capabilities at CHESS including enhanced microspectroscopy for a variety of life sciences, improved time-resolved XRD for both metallurgical metals/alloys as well as fundamental studies into strongly correlated materials.

Flexibility for the Future

CHESS plays a leading role in development of innovative instrumentation in support of first- and best-of-class experiments. CHESS-U will provide even more undulator beamtime availability for individual user groups to develop new instruments, new techniques, and new applications for synchrotron radiation.

Internationally, it is becoming harder and harder for students (undergraduate, graduate) to actively get "behind the shield wall," CHESS welcomes students to actively participate in the design and assembly of their experiments. This approach introduces a new generation of synchrotron scientists that will greatly impact the world of physics.

Bring CHESS Your Toughest Questions

The ability to perform x-ray microscopy in the 20-100 keV regime with the speed, sensitivity, and versatility of CHESS-U opens up new possibilities for research and development. Working alongside industrial and research partners, there are questions that CHESS hopes to answer with the high energy x-rays available with the upgrade:

  1. Sustainable development: How can synchrotron radiation help us detect, understand, and ultimately utilize our natural resources more efficiently and responsibly?
  2. Natural/environmental history: What aspects of natural history do we remain blind to for lack of adequate detection limits, resolution, or field of view?
  3. Trace-elements for medical imaging: What information about nutrients, toxins, and radiological tracers are we missing for lack of adequate sensitivity, e.g. at the parts per million (ppm) level?
  4. Sustainable energy: How can we routinely observe the physical and chemical transformations inside energy-related devices?
  5. Cultural heritage: How do we extract information from, understand, and preserve cultural heritage artifacts?