XLEAP Overview

Proposed capabilities

XLEAP will deliver unique capabilities to the national synchrotron user community, including:

• both high flux and high-energy-resolution submicron modes,
• sub-micron focused x-rays from 5-30 keV,
• ≥1 μm focused x-rays from 30-70 keV,
• an open sample area accommodating custom in-situ plant growth chambers and rhizo-boxes as well as a cryostat,
• CHESS-developed 3D confocal μXRF, and
• dedicated optical (visible, fluorescence, and IR/Raman) microscopy integrated with x-ray microscopy workflows.

See more on the proposed capabilities page.

The facility will also include an on-site growth chamber for controlled environments during beamtime, as well as dedicated sample preparation facilities (stereomicroscope, microtome, cryomicrotome) for room-temperature and frozen hydrated tissues.

Science priorities

XLEAP will offer researchers new experimental modes to explore dynamic changes in the ionomes of living systems.

Construction of this unique facility is motivated by four urgent, scientific community–determined Science Priorities:

• Fundamental processes of nutrient homeostasis in plants
• Plant systems under external stimuli (symbionts, pathogens, nanoparticles, environment)
• Soil biogeochemistry, including plant-root-soil interfaces and biogeochemical cycling
• and Micronutrient uptake and transformation in marine organisms

The ability to study living plants in-situ in a customized growth chamber on the beamline will be a major advance, enabling researchers to examine genotype-phenotype relationships in non-stressed tissues. Researchers will even be able to study dynamic changes in plant tissues on multiple time scales, as XLEAP will provide both cutting-edge detectors with low per-pixel dwell times and high-energy x-rays, minimizing radiation dose and damage to living tissue. Microfocused x-rays at energies >40 keV are rare globally and unique among U.S. synchrotrons; in addition to in-vivo studies, this capability will enable high-sensitivity unambiguous measurements of high-Z elements such as the micronutrient iodine as well as rare earth elements. In the 5-30 keV range, submicron x-rays will enable cellular-level study. The beamline’s high throughput capabilities will accelerate the pace of discovery, while its suite of complementary x-ray, optical, fluorescence, and IR/Raman microscopy tools will permit researchers to collect rich multimodal datasets on the same sample areas, providing a comprehensive understanding of elemental processes in biological and environmental systems.

Societal grand challenges

XLEAP will advance scientific progress towards many societal grand challenges, including:

• feeding a growing population with sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural methods;
• accelerating carbon sequestration via enhancements of natural biogeochemical cycles;
• sustainably extracting metals and rare earth elements of critical importance to renewable energy technologies.

Partnership with the University of Texas at El Paso

In partnership between Cornell University and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), which serves an 84% Hispanic student body, this project will engage graduate students in development and testing of new hardware and experimental methods for use at the beamline, enhancing the diversity of both the synchrotron user community and also the pool of future synchrotron postdocs and beamline scientists.

This project is made possible by a US National Science Foundation Midscale Research Infrastructure 1 award (USNSF-2330043).