Monthly Newsletter of the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Skyrmion Behavior Revealed by Two X-Ray Studies
Two research groups have recently published separate studies in which soft x-rays reveal how skyrmions—quasiparticles made up of spin vortices—react to external fields. Their work lays the foundation for understanding these fascinating constructs and eventually utilizing them in spintronic applications. Read more…
Space Dust Analysis Could Provide Clues to Solar System Origins
New studies of space dust captured by NASA’s Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector have shown that interstellar particles may be much more complex in structure and composition than previously thought. The tiny particles could give scientists chemical clues about the origins of our solar system. Read more…
Ptychography: A Fun Word with Big Scientific Promise
Ptychography has won accolades for the ALS recently, as researchers achieved the highest resolution ever recorded in x-ray microscopy. But what exactly is this technique with the catchy name? ALS physicist David Shapiro explains ptychography and why the ALS is uniquely suited to work on this next-generation technique. Read more…
Industry@ALS: Caribou Biosciences Has Roots at the ALS
When Rachel Haurwitz joined UC Berkeley biology professor Jennifer Doudna’s lab in 2007 as a graduate student, little did the two women know that the interesting bacterial immune system they were studying would be the subject of news headlines and the basis for a biotech startup just a few years later. Read more…
ALS User News: General User Proposal Timeline for Reviews and Notifications
The User Office received 301 new General User Proposals (GUPs) and 260 Beam Time Requests (BTRs) for the 2015-1 running cycle. All the proposals have now been processed by the User Office. Users submitting new proposals should have received an email inviting them to log in to ALSHub and check the proposal PDF, which will be sent to reviewers. Read about the review process and see this cycle’s timetable.
Around the ALS in Photos: Mr. Parkinson Goes to Washington
ALS Beamline Scientist Dula Parkinson recently took part in the first National Lab Day sponsored by the Department of Energy in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. The event was designed to show the breadth of science conducted at DOE facilities across the country, and Dula’s part was to demonstrate 3-D x-ray tomography and its uses in national user facilities. See his day from start to finish…
UEC Corner: 2014 ALS User Meeting
The 2014 ALS User Meeting is only weeks away, October 6-8! The meeting agenda includes some great keynote and scientific highlight talks, a student poster competition, lots of opportunities to socialize with colleagues, 13 workshops, and a Town Hall Meeting where users can come with comments and questions for the UEC and ALS management.
For the user runs from August 20 to September 14, 2014, the beam reliability [(time scheduled – time lost)/time scheduled)] was 94.8%. For this period, the mean time between failures (MTBF) was 37.8 hours, and the mean time to recovery (MTTR) was 132 minutes. A problem with the Booster Magnet power system on September 4 resulted in the loss of 11.9 hours of user time.
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).
ALS in the News
