From Director Chi-Chang Kao
I attended the "X-rays in the Fourth Dimension" workshop organized by the
Advanced Photon Source earlier in May. Although it has been less than a
year from the "Time Resolved X-Ray Science at High Repetition Rate" workshop
held at the SSRL/LCLS user conference last fall, there has been significant
development in sources, including demonstration of self-seeding at LCLS and
hybrid low-alpha mode at SSRL. This latest workshop again generated many novel new
ideas in science, and accelerator improvements that will lead to exciting new
developments in the coming years.
At SSRL, we are continuing to work with the user community to explore this new
opportunity. Recently, the Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Science
(SIMES) and SSRL jointly funded a second fiber laser, which should be available
for the next user run starting in October. We will also discuss with the
Scientific Advisory Committee and User Organization Executive Committee in the
coming months on scheduling more timing operations.
Some of you probably have heard the news that Cynthia Friend, the Photon
Science Associate Laboratory Director at SLAC, has decided to go back to
Harvard University so that she can devote more time to research and teaching. We
are sorry to lose her, and thank her for what she contributed to SLAC. I have
agreed to step in as the acting Director for Photon Science. This is only a
temporary assignment until a permanent replacement is named. I will remain as
the Director for SSRL.
I feel I can take on this additional responsibility for a short time because
SSRL is in a good place right now, having a strategy in place for our short-
and long-term growth and a strong leadership team to help me on a day-to-day
basis. Serving in this dual capacity will also help me find greater
opportunities to enhance the synergy between SSRL and Photon Science.
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Science Highlights
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Beam Line 4-3 Rescues Ancient Warships
Nearly 400 years ago, the
Swedish warship Vasa sank on its maiden voyage. In 260 BCE, a Roman
warship with its bronze naval ram, sank after battle off the coast of Sicily.
And in 1545, the flagship of Henry VIII's navy, the Mary Rose, sank
outside of Portsmouth while maneuvering to engage the French fleet.
All of these magnificent historical artifacts have been pulled from the sea and
are now featured in museums around the world, where they are viewed by hundreds
of thousands of visitors each year. But now they face a new battle. Sulfur
that preserved the wood underwater, introduced by anaerobic marine bacteria,
now poses a threat. Exposed to oxygen, the sulfur is slowly
converting to sulfuric acid, which destroys the wood.
Using SSRL Beam Line 4-3, a team of SSRL
and University of Palermo researchers measured x-ray spectra of the sulfur
inside wooden sections of the Roman ram, revealing the kinds of sulfur hidden
within.
Read more...
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Extreme Biological Sulfur K-edge Spectroscopy
The continuous advancement
of x-ray spectroscopic techniques allows for probing the structure of
biological machineries for smaller samples in more dilute concentrations and
thus for asking tough scientific questions about problems that have not been
possible in the past. Careful biochemical preparation and systematic analytical
characterization resulted in galactose oxidase samples that could be
interrogated by x-rays. This metalloenzyme contains a copper at its active site
that is coordinated to a cross-linked tyrosine and cysteine ligand, both of
which are essential to convert alcohols and sugars to their oxidized aldehyde
forms by oxygen molecules. The remarkable feature of this reaction is that it is
selective and does not result in formation of carboxylates (a form of
vinegar).
It has been a long standing question in the scientific literature of how the
active site of galactose oxidase can tame its reactivity. Using the synchrotron
facilities at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, a research group
from Montana State University led by Robert K. Szilagyi joined the
effort of putting together the pieces of this tantalizing puzzle.
Read more...
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Events
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SSRL Workshop on XAS and RIXS Data Analysis Using CTM4XAS and CTM4RIXS, June
28-29
Prof. Frank de Groot, Utrecht University, will present a two-day comprehensive
lecture and hands-on analysis session on XAS charge transfer multiplets using
CTM4XAS, which is a semi-empirical program that includes important interactions
for the calculation of x-ray spectra of transition metal systems. The workshop
will feature XAS, MCD, XPS and XES data analysis with CTM4XAS. In addition,
CTM4RIXS, an interactive tool to calculate and visualize resonant inelastic
x-ray scattering spectra, including 2p3d, 3p3d, 1s2p and 1s3p RIXS spectra,
will be used. The lecture and hands-on analysis will be held on June 28.
Prof. de Groot will address participant-driven topics and address specific
scientific problems on the 29th. The course is free to participants, but
space is limited. Advanced registration is required by June 6, 2012. More
information is available at the workshop site.
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Structural Molecular Biology Summer School 2012,
July 16-20
The Structural Molecular
Biology Summer School 2012 will be held at SSRL from July 16-20 and will
focus on the following disciplines: Macromolecular Crystallography, Small Angle
X-ray Scattering, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Fluorescence XAS Imaging and
X-ray Emission Spectroscopy. The five-day summer school will include invited
lectures
by experts in the field, hands-on data acquisition, and practical training
session for data analysis. The goal of the summer school is to disseminate
information about scientific opportunities in synchrotron techniques applicable
to biologically-relevant systems and to train the participants at both the
beginner and expert levels to successfully plan, execute and report their
research at SSRL. Space is limited and advanced application is mandatory. More
information is available at: SMB Summer School 2012.
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Save the Date: LCLS/SSRL Users' Meeting, October
3-6
In response to user feedback,
the 2012 Users' Meeting will include joint SSRL/LCLS parallel science sessions
and many opportunities for students to present their work. The organizers
encourage your suggestions for workshop topics and speakers who would draw in
the larger photon science community to explore new opportunities for SSRL and
the Linac Coherent Light Source. Tell us what would make this meeting a great
one by e-mailing Cathy Knotts
. In addition, we encourage and will reserve slots for student
talks; start planning your talk today. Stay tuned for registration
details.
Announcements
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Upcoming Proposal Deadlines
July 1 is the next deadline for
submitting Macromolecular Crystallography proposals. Proposals submitted for
this deadline will be eligible for beam time beginning in fall 2012. For a
full list of upcoming deadlines please see the SSRL deadlines webpage.
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Coffee Anyone?
Users coming to SSRL for beam time will notice a new
addition to the Building 120 kitchen. We now have a Pronto Cafe vending
machine that features a variety of cappuccino, espresso and latte selections as
well as regular and decaf coffee.
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Questions?
Comments? Contact
Lisa Dunn
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