The system was designed with flexibility in mind, allowing for X-ray diffraction experiments to be combined with a wide suite of mechanical tests. Loads are applied to samples by a Bose 3330 testing system capable of applying a max 3000N at a frequency of 100hz for high-cycle fatigue testing. 250lbs (1112N) and 1000lbs (4448N) load cells are available for high and low load amplitude loading. Fixtures are available for tensile, compressive, and fully reversed loading. A furnace capable of heating samples to 1000°C during mechanical loading is also available.

In a recent work, Masayo Suzuki et. al.¹ have reported the development of a high-flux X-ray monitor based upon the scintillation of Ar gas as X-rays pass through it. Unlike ion chambers, where the temporal response is limited by the drift velocity of charged particles in gaseous media, it is possible for Ar-scintillation monitors to yield time resolution better than 50 ns.

At CHESS, we have created a device that uses the same principle as the one mentioned above with the added capability of measuring X-ray beam position, in addition to flux.

Self-made tape measurers hang suspended from the ceiling, stretched to reach the tops of the tables with 10cm increments clearly marked. Kids take turns vertically propelling the balls using student-made ball-launchers. This was the scene in the eXploration station this past month when first graders from Fall Creek Elementary School participated in bimonthly visits to Xraise at Cornell during the past school year. Teachers Chris Bell and Abigail Bokaer brought their students, sometimes riding the bus and sometime walking up the hill, to participate in these science investigations.

Many forward-thinking scientists at synchrotron and newer free-electron laser x-ray facilities are hoping that someday scientists will be able to determine the structure of a single molecule using x-ray techniques. Lacking millions of similar molecules periodically spaced on a crystalline lattice, the x-ray signal from a single molecule will be extraordinarily weak. Still, with the advent of imaging detectors that have very low background noise, it still seems feasible that even a few photons scattered from a single molecule should be sufficient.

RIM experiments at CHESS have reached a degree of complexity that a permanent lab was set up, in which users can test and develop their experimental set-ups as well as can be trained in the use of CHESS sample cells and ancillary equipment. A mock-up of the D1 station sample goniomenter is set up on an optical table (Figure 1) and can be equipped with a sample microscope, an optical spectrometer, or an optical film thickness monitor, so that complex experiments can be prepared and tested, before the equipment is transferred to the beamline.

As of earlier this month, the secret is out: Pablo Picasso’s 1901 masterpiece, “The Blue Room,” part of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., is indeed painted over another painting of a bearded, bow-tied man, according to details released by museum officials.

Download/view PDF of 
"Some Early Synchrotron Radiation History"

Preface

Each will receive $1 million over five years to create activities that integrate their research with student learning in ways that enhance undergraduate students’ understanding of science.

Crane’s HHMI project will build on Cornell’s successful prefreshman summer program (PSP) that prepares students for freshman chemistry. He and chemistry professor Stephen Lee, who recently revamped the PSP, will extend the program to prepare the students for more advanced chemistry and then initiate them into research experiences.

This school is part of the new Insitμ (Integrated Simulation and Interrogation Tools and Training for μmechanics) center at CHESS. The first day began with CHESS workshop I entitled Structural Materials Opportunities for Combining Polycrystal Modeling and High Energy X-rays http://meetings.chess.cornell.edu/UserMeeting2014/workshops.html#Workshop1.

The international user base was represented by 174 attendants who congregated to discuss this year's theme, "Exploring the Art and Science of Synchrotron X-ray Research". The plenary session on June 10 included a morning facility update session with the CHESS and MacCHESS directors, where exciting upgrade plans were presented, along with a summary of updates to the beam time proposal system. The invited user science sessions featured a cross-section of cutting edge user research, spanning the range from virology to superconductivity to art conservation.