Registration is now open for this year’s meeting. A full schedule includes facility reports, recent science highlights, a student poster contest and “slam,” and 13 focused workshops. Scheduled keynote speakers include George Crabtree (ANL), Jim Krupnick (LBNL), Michael Eisen, and Jamie Cate (UC Berkeley).Register now!
Reversing the Circulation of Magnetic Vortices
Recently, magnetic vortices have drawn scientists toward the possibility of multibit magnetic memory in which each logic unit has four states instead of two. Previous studies showed how to flip the vortex polarity. Now, researchers show how to reverse the circulation from clockwise to counterclockwise.Read more…
Despite the technological innovations and widespread use of batteries, the mechanism behind charging and discharging particles remains largely a mystery. Recently, researchers combined synchrotron-based scanning transmission x-ray microscopy with transmission electron microscopy at ALS Beamlines 5.3.2 and 11.0.2 to probe the charging and discharging dynamics of lithium iron phosphate, a promising positive battery electrode.Read more…
Since 2006, Jim Floyd has served as the Environment/Health/Safety (EHS) Program Manager for the ALS. On July 8, he took a new position as director of the Lab’s EHS Division. Read about the ALS and EHS Division staff who will provide interim support while we recruit Jim’s permanent replacement. Read more…
Industry@ALS: ALS Gives Chevron New Insights into Corrosion Resistance
In the chemical environments common in energy production plants, steel pipes and equipment can accumulate layers of iron sulfide, some of which are corrosion resistant and provide protection to the steel surface. Understanding how operating conditions affect steel surface layers can improve corrosion rate estimates, decreasing building and maintenance costs, and increasing the safety and reliability of operating plants. Chevron Energy Technology Company (Chevron ETC) is currently studying the link between operating conditions and corrosion properties at ALS Beamline 12.3.2 to determine which corrosion layers form and in what order.Read the article.
ALS User Meeting T-Shirt Design Contest Returns!
As part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of the ALS, we are bringing back the famous (or infamous to some) ALS User Meeting T-Shirt Design Contest. Users and staff are invited to submit entries featuring some aspect of the ALS–science, history, building, people, etc.–either as rough designs, concepts, or polished artwork.
NUFO Science Exhibition on Capitol Hill Draws Congressmen, Crowds
At the invitation of the House Science and National Labs Caucus, the National User Facility Organization (NUFO) organized a science exhibition to describe and demonstrate the work done at national user facilities. Held June 26 at the Rayburn House office building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the exhibition included a number of live demonstrations, videos, and posters in line with its theme, “Energy, Health, and Innovation.” Read more of this story online, and see the flickr album for more photos.(Photo at left and all photos on flickr are courtesy of David Gilbert.)
ALS Users Win Awards
Physicist Feng Wang (Materials Sciences) has been named a Bakar Fellow, a UC Berkeley program to support innovative research by early career faculty, in particular those who want to focus on a project that has real-world applications in areas ranging from health care and agriculture to high-tech and biotech. The program provides five years of research support and is now in its second year. Feng Wang, a UC Berkeley professor, most recently worked on ALS Beamline 1.4.
Alexander Gray, a member of Chuck Fadley’s group at the ALS, won a 2013 Young Scientist Award from the user community organization of the SPring8 synchrotron radiation facility in Hyogo, Japan. The SPring-8 user community recognized Gray for his original application of HARPES–Hard X-Ray Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy–to resolve a long-standing controversy concerning the electronic structure of dilute magnetic structure materials. Gray will receive his award at a ceremony in Kyoto in early September.
Events
ALS Science Café–Thursday, August 29, User Support Building, R15-253
Speakers include Christine Beavers, Eoin Brodie, and Xiaodan Gu.
The UEC would like to extend a hearty congratulations to Ron Slater, who is retiring this month. Many users will remember Ron from his friendly and tireless treks around the ALS ring, and from his diligent upkeep of the “ALS Candy Area” where users can be found around the clock.
It’s not too early to start thinking about nominations for the Shirley, Renner, and Halbach awards. These three awards are given out annually at the User Meeting. Nomination forms are online.
Several members will be leaving the UEC at the end of this year, and we will hold elections for new members starting at the ALS User Meeting (October 7-9). Please consider running for the UEC if you would like to represent your fellow users. Being part of the UEC is an informative and interesting experience, and it looks good on a resume!
All users are welcome to contact their UEC representatives to raise issues of concern relating to their own research, or to alert us to issues facing our whole community.
For the user runs from June 20 to July 22, 2013, the beam reliability [(time scheduled – time lost)/time scheduled)] was 97.8%. For this period, the mean time between failures (MTBF) was 38.0 hours, and the mean time to recovery (MTTR) was 57 minutes. There were no significant interruptions.
More detailed information on reliability is available on the ALS reliability bulletin board, which is located in the hallway between the ALS and the control room in Building 80. Questions about beam reliability should be directed to Dave Richardson (DBRichardson@lbl.gov, x4376).
New Beamline Highlight Video Online A new video showcasing the capabilities of ALS Microtomography Beamline 8.3.2 and the science done there is now on the ALS YouTube channel. Watch it now!
Registration is now open for this year’s meeting. A full schedule includes facility reports, recent science highlights, a student poster contest and “slam,” and 
Recently, magnetic vortices have drawn scientists toward the
Despite the technological innovations and widespread use of batteries, the mechanism behind charging and discharging particles remains largely a mystery. Recently, researchers combined synchrotron-based scanning transmission x-ray microscopy with transmission electron microscopy at ALS Beamlines 5.3.2 and 11.0.2 to probe the charging and discharging dynamics of lithium iron phosphate, a promising positive battery electrode.
Read about the ALS and EHS Division staff who will provide interim support while we recruit Jim’s permanent replacement. 
In the chemical environments common in energy production plants, steel pipes and equipment can accumulate layers of iron sulfide, some of which are corrosion resistant and provide protection to the steel surface. Understanding how operating conditions affect steel surface layers can improve corrosion rate estimates, decreasing building and maintenance costs, and increasing the safety and reliability of operating plants. Chevron Energy Technology Company (Chevron ETC) is currently studying the link between operating conditions and corrosion properties at ALS 
At the invitation of the House Science and National Labs Caucus, the National User Facility Organization (
Physicist Feng Wang (Materials Sciences) has been named a Bakar Fellow, a UC Berkeley program to support innovative research by early career faculty, in particular those who want to focus on a project that has real-world applications in areas ranging from health care and agriculture to high-tech and biotech. The program provides five years of research support and is now in its second year. Feng Wang, a UC Berkeley 
Alexander Gray, a member of Chuck Fadley’s group at the ALS, won a 2013 Young Scientist Award from the user community organization of the SPring8 synchrotron radiation facility in Hyogo, Japan. The SPring-8 user community recognized Gray for his original application of HARPES–Hard X-Ray Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy–to resolve a long-standing controversy concerning the electronic structure of dilute magnetic structure materials. Gray will receive his award at a ceremony in Kyoto in early September.
Beamline 8.3.2 and the science done there is now on the ALS YouTube channel. 
