A key principle of NCRIS is that the facilities funded by the program should be accessible to researchers on the basis of merit at reasonable prices, wherever they are located in Australia.
The Australian Synchrotron is a highly intense source of light ranging from infrared to hard x-rays used for a wide variety of research purposes.
What is a synchrotron?
A synchrotron light source is a machine that accelerates charged particles such as electrons to extremely high energies, creating an electron beam that travels at almost the speed of light. When high-energy electrons are forced to travel in a circular orbit, they release extremely intense radiation - synchrotron light.
Synchrotron light has many useful properties and can be filtered and directed down 'beamlines' for use in a wide range of non-destructive, high-resolution, rapid, in-situ, real-time imaging and analysis techniques. The Australian Synchrotron is an advanced third- generation 3GeV light source with a high quality, low emittance, stable electron beam that generates synchrotron light of high brilliance.
The unique properties of synchrotron light mean that experimental results are far superior in accuracy, clarity, specificity and timeliness to those obtained using conventional laboratory equipment. Synchrotron techniques can generate images and provide elemental, structural and chemical information from diverse sample types ranging from biological to industrial materials.
Access is by peer-reviewed application and is free if you publish your results in the open literature. Our services are also available on a confidential basis to fee-paying clients. Beamtime applications are invited three times a year.
