National Synchrotron Light Source II

The National Synchrotron Light Source II, or NSLS-II for short, is a national research facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. The project is funded primarily by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. As a synchrotron light source, the facility is designed to produce X-rays that are 10,000 times brighter than those of its predecessor, the National Synchrotron Light Source. This extreme brightness allows scientists to carry out in-depth studies in areas such as energy security, advanced materials manufacturing, environmental protection, and human health. The facility serves as a central platform for academic, industrial, and government research institutions from around the world, which gain access to the experimental stations through a peer-reviewed proposal process.

At the heart of the facility is an electron storage ring with an energy of three gigaelectronvolts. The ring is built to maintain a very stable, high-current electron beam in order to deliver photons of exceptional spectral brightness. The radiation spectrum extends from the far infrared to very hard X-rays. To cover these different wavelength ranges, the facility uses a combination of bending magnets, wiggler magnets, and specialized insertion devices. The experimental stations, also known as beamlines, are grouped into seven scientific programs that specialize in techniques such as spectroscopy, imaging, microscopy, structural biology, and complex scattering methods.

Construction of NSLS-II began in 2009 and was completed in 2014, with first light produced that same year. The total cost of the project came to roughly $912 million. Since then, the facility has achieved enormous scientific productivity. During its first nine years of operation, more than 15,000 requests for beam time were submitted, over 6,000 different users were served, and more than 3,200 scientific publications were produced. Currently, 29 experimental stations are ready for operation, and in the long term the facility has room for up to 58 beamlines. This infrastructure makes NSLS-II an indispensable tool for modern materials science and biophysics.