Berkeley Lab

Advanced Light Source Accelerator Physics

Two decades of improvement keep a major DOE user facility state-of-the-art


ALS_from_71_700pxAccelerators are not built so much as rebuilt: upgraded through the years as new ideas and better technologies become available. The Advanced Light Source — a synchrotron-light source at Berkeley Lab — exemplifies this principle. Since its 1991 commissioning, the ALS has undergone numerous enhancements. A major brightness upgrade and “Top-off” injection are the latest changes that deliver photon beams of better quality and variety for the users. More >

This page emphasizes the ATAP-led effort to improve the performance and versatility of the accelerator-related systems of the ALS and to help define the next generation of photon facilities.

If you are looking for a nontechnical explanation of what synchrotron light is, how scientists use it, and how the ALS works, we suggest About the ALS.

The research performed using beams from the ALS is a vast topic that spans many scientific disciplines; a good overview with in-depth links is available at the ALS Science Briefs page.