Synchrotron Radiation Center

The Synchrotron Radiation Center [1] (SRC), located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison [2], was originally built around Tantalus, a 240 MeV electron storage ring, which was a legacy of the Midwestern Universities Research Association (MURA) laboratory. Tantalus was planned to be a test bed for advanced accelerator concepts. However, after construction began in 1965, interest in the use of synchrotron radiation (SR) for research increased rapidly in both the United States and Europe. A subcommittee of the Solid State Sciences Panel of the National Research Council was given the responsibility to examine this development and make Recommendations. Two Illinois members of this subcommittee, P.G. Kruger (former Director of MURA) and F.C. Brown, suggested the use of Tantalus as a source of synchrotron radiation for solid-state research. Minor alterations of the vacuum chamber were made to accommodate, first F.C. Brown and, shortly thereafter, H. Fritzsche of Chicago and D. Lynch of Iowa State.

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Interestingly, when Tantalus was commissioned in 1968, no funds were available for operation as a test bed. Thus, a decision was made to use it as the first dedicated source of synchrotron radiation. This decision, taken perhaps rather lightly at the time, was to have far-reaching effects on the future of synchrotron radiation research throughout the world. It was at SRC that the superiority of the electron storage ring as a source of synchrotron radiation was first demonstrated. Many subsequent innovations implemented at SRC have had considerable impact on the development of other synchrotron radiation facilities. Among these are: the use of a wiggler to extend the spectral capabilities of a SR source; the application of the microtron as an inexpensive injector for storage rings; the demonstration of the advantages of an intermediate energy (0.7 - 1.0 GeV), with respect to a high energy ring, for vacuum ultraviolet (vuv) and soft-x-ray (sxr) research; and many innovations in vuv and sxr optics. Among the latter are the toroidal grating monochromator (TGM), and the Grasshopper and Extended Range Grasshopper (ERG) monochromators. SRC users also pioneered the development of the techniques of angle-resolved photoemission and constant initial and constant final state spectroscopy.

In 1977 SRC began construction on its own facility focusing on a new and much larger SR source, Aladdin. Ten years later, with Aladdin fully operational, Tantalus was decommissioned. Today, scientists come to SRC from around the world to use synchrotron light for myriad experiments on superconductors, low-dimensional solids, quantum confinement, geology and environmental science; microanalysis of cells, tissues and minerals; and exploration of nanotechnology. The Aladdin "lamp" is lit 24 hours a day, five days a week and users are granted three-week blocks of time to conduct their research per visit. SRC is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation and is administered under the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.