HMF - A first-of-its-kind X-Ray facility

X-rays can uniquely address fundamental, long-standing questions about the nature of matter in high magnetic fields. The new HMF facility will enable research that is currently not achievable anywhere in the world.

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The dedicated High Magnetic Field (HMF) X-ray Beamline at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) will be a world-class high-energy X-ray beam- line. It will feature a custom low-temperature superconducting (LTS) magnet generating continuous fields as high as 20 Tesla. The beamline will be designed to accommodate even higher fields from future magnets, which will become feasible as high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology matures.

The HMF facility will be unique, enabling science that is not possible today while aligning with the NSF's “Big Ideas”.  The project has many science drivers that will establish the HMF facility as a world leader:​​​​, as it will combine the best possible X-ray beamline with the highest possible DC magnetic fields, drawing on the talents of leading experts in the distinct disciplines of X-ray science and high field science to deliver research capabilities that are unique in the world. Our beamline design is based on 3 priorities: delivering high photon flux, allowing precise control of polarization and beam size over a wide range of incident energies, and exploiting sophisticated analyzer and detector systems to enable multimodal X-ray measurements.

Evaluated solely on the characteristics of the X-ray beams and detection, HMF will rival the capabilities of any magnetic scattering or spectroscopy beamline in the world. With the added capability for large DC magnetic fields, the facility becomes truly world-leading.

The first generation HMF magnet design produces a maximum DC field of up to 20T using established magnet technology, and large optical access to the sample with conical angles approaching 50º. The result is a facility that will triple the range of DC magnetic fields that are available in the US for several key synchrotron techniques, while also improving on the precision available, and opening entirely new avenues of investigation. Nearly all techniques currently used at MagLab facilities average across the entire bulk of a sample, with no real-space or momentum-space resolution. Synchrotron X-rays offer new capabilities for spatially resolved interrogation of heterogeneous samples with tunable sensitivity to specific phases, symmetries, structures, and elements.

High-Energy X-ray Science and CHESS

  • High-energy X-rays are an indispensable tool for research into materials, molecules, organisms, and devices. They resolve physical, chemical, and structural properties across a wide range of length- and time-scales. X-rays probe directly the charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom of the electrons in a sample.

High Magnetic Field Science and the MagLab

  • High magnetic fields are broadly used across science and industry. They resolve the electronic properties of quantum materials, induce new phases of matter, and enable nuclear magnetic resonance. They are critical for medical imaging and particle acceleration.

Convergence: X-rays at the High Magnetic Field Frontier

  • Applied magnetic fields couple directly to the same electronic degrees of freedom that are probed by X-rays. Rich science opportunities exist for researchers to manipulate electrons using magnetic fields and monitor their response using X-rays.