American Physical Society Award

Herman Winick (SSRL/SLAC) and James Spencer (SLAC) have received the US Particle Accelerator School Prize for Achievement in Accelerator Physics and Technology. The prize was awarded in recognition of their pioneering work starting in 1977 in the design and implementation of the first insertion device to be successfully used as a light source in a storage ring. The 6-pole, 1.8 Tesla electromagnet wiggler was successful in producing hard x-rays even with SPEAR operating at 1.5-2 GeV, facilitating X-ray experiments running parasitically during colliding beam runs. The 8-pole wigglers still in use today on Beam Lines 4 and 7 were constructed as a direct result of the success of this first wiggler, while the original wiggler was sent to Cornell where it functioned at CHESS for many years. The current widespread use of insertion devices at synchrotron radiation facilities worldwide attests to the significance of this development.