This past semester an enthusiastic team of graduate students ignited public interest in accelerators and light sources by creating and presenting interactive exhibits that demystify synchrotron science.
Graduating a year early from Lansing High School, just outside of Ithaca, Campello contacted Cornell physics professor Jim Alexander, who connected him to staff at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS). They gave him a tour, and Campello signed on for a monthlong internship there while still in high school.
Understanding how grape buds respond to subzero temperatures is of paramount concern to vineyard managers in New York and other northerly grape-producing states. Some of the more popular varieties used in the wine and juice industries can survive temperatures far below the freezing point of water. By a process known as supercooling, cellular mechanisms within the bud maintain water in liquid state down to around minus 4 to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the species.
Teachers from different science backgrounds, including physics, biology and chemistry attended our Spring Workshop where Xraise hosted presentations from researchers and presented one of the Lending Library activities called “Water Analogy to Electrical Circuits”.
During those workshops, astute scientists like Phil Anfinrud (NIH) prompted CHESS management to explore how our upgraded source might serve scientists needing large x-ray pulses. His questions followed an external review of the accelerator upgrade which also pointed out that the CHESS source – CESR – was flexible enough to support particle beam bunch patterns having high bunch charge (up to 50 nanoCoulombs per bunch) and flexible timing (from 14 to 644 nanoseconds).
CHESS is currently in the midst of designing and planning for CHESS-U, and since NSLS-II was recently built and commissioned (and the work is still ongoing), the folks at NSLS-II had fantastic advice and expertise to offer us.
In addition to having a prominent spot on APS TV—broadcast in multiple places throughout the conference—scientific talks included cutting-edge research by Detlef Smilgies, Darren Pagan, Jooseop Lee, Jacob Ruff, and Ken Finkelstein. This year’s March meeting also included something new and unexpected from CHESS—a large showcase of do-it-yourself Synchrotron Science themed exhibits aboard an aluminum foil covered Physics Bus!
The work breakdown structure (WBS) has been created and System Managers have been assigned. Two large contracts have been awarded and designs are being vetted. We are almost ready to cut metal.
However, one of main properties of x-rays that makes them powerful -- their high penetrating power – also limits the scope of application of this imaging technique. In particular, imaging thick or heterogeneous samples at the micron scale generally requires that the sample be thinned, which is often impractical or impossible.