Dear User Community:
As we are preparing for a transformative upgrade of the ALS by replacing the existing 32-year accelerator with a fourth-generation, diffraction-limited ring, known as the ALS Upgrade project, we are also currently reviewing our beamline portfolio to ready it for our operation after the dark time. The ALS is a fully-built-out accelerator facility, and it is unavoidable that new developments replace existing beamlines.
To make space for new scientific developments, we have made the difficult decision to not return the following beamlines and endstations back to operations after the scheduled ALS-U dark time, which begins in mid-2027:
- 7.3.1 High-Pressure In Situ Soft X-Ray Spectroscopy (HPISXS)
- 9.0.2 Chemical Transformations (Vacuum Ultraviolet)
- 10.0.1 Angle- and Spin-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy
- 11.0.1.1 PEEM-3 Photoemission Electron Microscope
- 12.3.2 Microdiffraction
Sunsetting a program is not easy, and the decision followed a more than year-long process that included discussions with ALS staff and leadership, the ALS Scientific Advisory Committee and laboratory stakeholders. We recently held a series of user forums where we shared and explained our plans.
The rationale behind each individual decision is complex and includes our estimate of the future needs of the research community, of existing capacity at the ALS and other national and international facilities, the ability of the ALS and its accelerator to support a technically world-class program with the resources and expertise available to us, and the opportunity to use the freed space and resources to develop new world-leading programs that leverage the ALS’s R&D in optics, computing, and accelerator technology, including the 100-times increased brightness of the new ring.
Endstations at shared beamlines that were not mentioned will restart after the dark time. We are also prioritizing the development of related capabilities and additional capacity at other beamlines.
Let me conclude this letter by saying that I am and we are all proud of the scientific and technical accomplishments of the beamlines and endstations we have decided to close, of their staff, and their user community. They have over decades produced hundreds of publications and launched and supported the careers of many students, postdocs, and scientists, including ALS staff. When we are sunsetting their operation, we do not abandon the fields of research the beamlines supported; we create space and headroom for new developments and use the freed energy for their launch.
Best regards,
Andreas Scholl