User Office Update - April 2025
We look forward to welcoming users back to the lab for the 2025_2 run cycle, which will run from April 23 to June 24, 2025.
Don’t forget to submit Rapid Access proposals on select beamlines for a chance at beamtime in 2025_2.
We’re also excited about the CHESS User Meeting (remote or hybrid format still TBD) on June 3, 2025, which will be followed by workshops on June 4. More information to come soon!
The Accelerator: Robert Wilson's Impact at Cornell & Beyond
The event drew nearly a full house, with attendees ranging from CLASSE researchers, staff, and students to members of the wider Cornell and Ithaca communities.
The film, which features never-before-seen archival footage and interviews, traces Wilson’s extraordinary journey—from his pivotal role in the Manhattan Project to his visionary leadership in the development of particle accelerators - including the Cornell Synchrotron that bears his name - and his lasting impact on cancer treatment through the invention of proton therapy.
Behind the Beams: Downtime? Not Exactly.
This spring, teams installed specialized X-ray mirrors and a phase plate system for the new High Magnetic Field (HMF) beamline, carried out ultra-high vacuum work in the experimental cave, replaced aging plumbing and magnet arrays in the accelerator tunnel, and test-fitted a prototype compact wiggler—advancing both short-term reliability and long-term innovation at CHESS.
Synchrotron X-ray Science for Life Sciences, Agriculture, Sustainability Sciences and Technology Innovation at CALS
Join in person or connect remotely via Zoom!
Registration link: https://indico.classe.cornell.edu/event/2527/overview
Zoom meeting link:
Researchers control metal microstructure for better 3D printing
Cornell researchers have uncovered a way to control these transformations in metal solidification by adjusting alloy composition, ultimately leading to stronger, more reliable metal parts.
X-ray study sheds light on cost-effective fuel cell materials
Fuel cells efficiently convert hydrogen and oxygen directly into electricity, with catalysts playing a crucial role in accelerating the process. Platinum has long been the preferred catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction due to its efficiency and durability, but its high cost limits widespread adoption.
Light-twisting materials created from nano semiconductors
Cornell scientists have developed a novel technique to transform symmetrical semiconductor particles into intricately twisted, spiral structures – or “chiral” materials – producing films with extraordinary light-bending properties.
The discovery, detailed in a paper publishing Jan. 31 in the journal Science, could revolutionize technologies that rely on controlling light polarization, such as displays, sensors and optical communications devices.
Spent brewers’ grain could be big business as chicken feed
Chicken consumption has doubled in the U.S. since 1980, breezing past beef in 2010. But nearly three-quarters of production costs in the industry are bound up in what the birds eat.
Spent grain from the brewing industry offers a huge opportunity for animal agriculture, with about 36.4 million tons produced as waste annually. Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) is frequently upcycled and used as cattle and hog feed, but chickens cannot efficiently digest such fiber-rich ingredients.