From the Director
Changes to X-ray / VUV Proposal Submission Deadlines
With the SSRL user operations schedules having gradually been moved to
resume in October instead of November (after the annual summer shut-down for
upgrades and maintenance) in order to provide a longer fall run schedule, we
have decided to move our call for SSRL X-ray and VUV proposals to earlier
dates. This was discussed with and endorsed by the SSRL Proposal Review Panel
at their on-site meeting this month.
As detailed towards the end of this Newsletter, and on the SSRL User Resources web page, the new dates to submit new
proposals through the user portal are: May 1, August 1, November 1. This
applies to X-ray and VUV proposals only; those for macromolecular
crystallography proposals remain the same.
This change also ensures sufficient time to conduct a thorough external peer
review of new proposals. As a user and supporter of the SSRL facility, we hope
that you will be available when asked to serve as a peer reviewer for new
proposals in your area of expertise. With an increase of ~30% of proposals to
review by the PRP this year, as compared to that at the same meeting in 2017,
your assistance will be particularly appreciated in the future if this trend
continues.
SSRL Year in Review - 2017
As we begin 2018, we reflect back on accomplishments over the past year
summarized in our 2017 Year in Review. We are grateful for the excellent
outcome of the triennial DOE BES review of SSRL that took place in May 2017.
The review highlighted the strength of the science performed at SSRL. Thank you
for keeping SSRL at the technological forefront.
Science Highlight
Questioning the Universality of the Charge Density Wave Nature in
Electron-doped Cuprates – Contact: Jun-Sik Lee
(SSRL)
The first superconductor materials discovered offer no electrical resistance
to a current only at extremely low temperatures (less than 30 K or
−243.2°C). The discovery of materials that show superconductivity at
much higher temperatures (up to 138 K or −135°C) are called
high-temperature superconductors (HTSC). For the last 30 years, scientists have
researched cuprate materials, which contain copper-oxide planes in their
structures, for their high-temperature superconducting abilities. To understand
the superconducting behavior in the cuprates, researchers have looked to
correlations with the charge density wave (CDW), caused by the ordered quantum
field of electrons in the material. It has been assumed that the CDW in a
normal (non-superconducting) state is indicative of the electron behavior at
the lower temperature superconducting state. Read
more...
Citation: H. Jang et al., Phys. Rev. X (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.7.041066
SSRL-Related News
Get Ready for the Battery Revolution
Excerpted from January 11, 2018 Forbes article by Mike
Montgomery
Moore’s law states that processing power will double every two years.
While more of a prediction than a principle, Moore’s law has guided the
technology industry to extraordinary growth. Today we can stream movies while
standing in line at Starbucks as easily as making a phone call.
But many of us choose not to do that because we’re worried about our
batteries. Most of us go through the day with one eye on the battery strength
of our cell phone or, if we have an electric vehicle, our car. There’s no
question that to date, batteries have not kept up with the speed of
technological innovation.
“The equivalent of Moore’s law for batteries is that they
improve about 3% every year,” says Mike Toney, SSRL. “It’s
been on a much slower growth rate than processing or cell phones.”
That could be about to change. Read more...
Scientists Discover Workings of First Promising Marburg Virus
Treatment
Excerpted from January 11, 2018 Scripps News & Views article by
Madeline McCurry-Schmidt
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| (Image courtesy Ollmann Saphire Lab) |
With a mortality rate of up to 88 percent, Marburg virus can rip through a
community in days. In 2005, an outbreak of Marburg virus struck a pediatric
ward in the country of Angola. With no treatment available, doctors struggled
to help as the virus killed 329 of 374 infected patients.
Now, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered the
workings of the first promising treatment for Marburg virus, a pathogen with
the same pandemic potential as Ebola virus. The research builds on previous
studies showing that an antibody called MR191 can neutralize
Marburg—though no one knew exactly how it targeted the virus.
Read more...
Work done at SSRL's macromolecular crystallography Beam Line 12-2 was
cited in the study results published in January 10, 2018 issue of Cell Host
& Microbe (DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2017.12.003)
DOE Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar Visits SLAC
Excerpted from January 18, 2018 SLAC News article by Andrew
Gordon
SSRL Director Kelly Gaffney joined SLAC Director Chi-Chang Kao and members
of the SLAC senior management team in welcoming DOE Under Secretary for Science
Paul Dabbar on his recent visit to SLAC. The Under Secretary's visit
on January 17 included tours and discussions on how the lab is driving
scientific innovation. In addition to meeting with SLAC and Stanford leadership
he met with researchers and scientists involved in the lab’s x-ray
science, particle physics and astrophysics, technology innovation and applied
energy programs. Read more...
Upcoming Events
SLAC Public Lecture: Simon Bare Presents, "Catalysis: The
Hidden Path to Foods, Fuels and Our Future"
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| (Greg Stewart/SLAC) |
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 30, 7:30-8:30 pm
Location: in the Panofsky Auditorium (B053)
The high standard of living we enjoy today is made possible by catalysts
– behind-the-scenes agents that promote chemical reactions in the
vast majority of industrial processes, including production of fertilizers,
gasoline and other essential products. But we have only a poor understanding of
how catalysts actually work. At SSRL, we are using x-rays to watch catalysts in
action at an atomic scale. By observing catalytic reactions in experimental
chambers under conditions that mimic large-scale commercial processes, we gain
fundamental insights with great practical value for designing industrial
catalysts that are more specific and more powerful. See announcement
EPFL 10-week Online Course on Synchrotrons and X-ray Free Electron
Lasers Starts March 4, 2018
Are you interested in investigating materials and their properties with
greater accuracy and fidelity? Synchrotrons and X-ray Free-Electron Lasers
(XFELs) are premier microscopic tools used in scientific disciplines as diverse
as molecular biology, environmental science, cultural heritage, catalytical
chemistry, and studies of the electronic properties of novel materials. The
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) is offering a free 10-week
online introduction to synchrotrons and XFEL facilities and associated
techniques. The course will cover:
- What x-rays are and how are they produced
- Interactions of x-rays with matter
- Synchrotron and XFEL facilities
- Scattering techniques such as diffraction and SAXS
- Spectroscopic techniques
- Imaging using x-rays
Learn more or enroll now for the course which begins March
4, 2018.
Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation (SRI 2018), June 10-15, 2018,
Taiwan
Save the date for the 13th International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation
Instrumentation (SRI 2018) to be hosted by the National Synchrotron Radiation
Research Center (NSRRC), at the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC),
June 10-15, 2018. The Call for Abstracts will remain open until April 15.
Conference website
50 Years of Synchrotron Radiation in the UK and Its Global Impact
(UKSR50), June 26-29, 2018, Liverpool, UK
Save the date for UKSR50 - a conference hosted by the University of
Liverpool to celebrate SR-related achievements over the past 50 years and
explore the future of the light sources (Synchrotrons and FELs) and their
applications in the coming decades. Early Bird registration for the conference
ends 12/31/2017. Conference website
Save the Date: September 26-28, 2018 —Joint SSRL/LCLS
Annual Users' Meeting at SLAC
See Meeting website for updates
Announcement
Lightsources.org Launches New Website
Check out the new look of Lightsources.org, a collaboration between light source
facilities around the world. On this joint website, you can find convenient
links to the facilities, the latest news, useful information for users
(proposal deadlines, conference, workshops and events), and career
opportunities from collaborating synchrotrons and FELs.
User Research Administration
SSRL Beam Time Request Deadlines
- February 5, 2018 – X-ray/VUV beam time requests for mid-April
– July 2018
- April 18, 2018 – Macromolecular Crystallography requests for
June – July 2018
SSRL Proposal Deadlines – NOTE NEW DEADLINES for X-ray / VUV
proposals!
- April 1, 2018 – Macromolecular Crystallography (for beam time
eligibility in June – July 2018 period)
- May 1, 2018 – X-ray / VUV (for beam time eligibility
beginning fall 2018)
* With our user operations resuming in October instead of November,
we need to move up our call for SSRL X-ray and VUV proposals. Submit new proposals
through the user portal by these new deadlines: May 1, August 1, November
1. See SSRL Proposal & Scheduling Guidelines
LCLS Proposal Deadline
- February 8, 2018 (4 pm Pacific) – AMO, CXI, MEC, MFX, SXR,
XCS, XPP (regular proposal type)
See LCLS Proposal Preparation Guidelines
Submit proposals and beam time requests for both facilities through the
User
Portal.
The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) is a third-generation
light source producing extremely bright x-rays for basic and applied
research. SSRL attracts and supports scientists from around the world who
use its state-of-the-art capabilities to make discoveries that benefit society.
SSRL, a U.S. DOE Office of Science national user facility, is a Directorate of
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, operated by Stanford University for the
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The SSRL Structural
Molecular Biology Program is supported by the DOE Office of Biological and
Environmental Research, and by the National Institutes of Health, National
Institute of General Medical Sciences. For more information about SSRL science,
operations and schedules, visit http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu.
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Questions? Comments? Contact Lisa Dunn
