Chi-Chang's Corner

Annual Users' Meeting Paints Bright Picture for Science Funding

June 10, 2009

Chi-Chang Kao
NSLS Department Chair
kao@bnl.gov

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Our annual NSLS-CFN Users' Meeting, held on May 18-20, attracted about 400 visiting researchers, Lab employees, and scientific leaders to learn about the latest developments in various fields and the bright future of scientific funding in the United States. The Department of Energy's (DOE) Harriet Kung, Director of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, and Pedro Montano, Director of the Scientific User Facilities Division, gave very positive updates on the status of federal scientific funding, including new opportunities for the department and the user community. They also attended a breakfast meeting with industrial users, listening to their concerns and needs. Overall, the meeting and associated workshops generated many great ideas that we hope to pursue in the future.

We also recently learned that quite a few of the DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) will involve the NSLS. One of the 46 EFRCs, led by Brookhaven, will seek to understand the underlying nature of superconductivity in complex materials by using techniques at the NSLS and CFN. In addition, the NSLS will likely be used for EFRC research on energy storage (led by Stony Brook University), on solar energy (led by Columbia University), on materials under extreme conditions (led by the Carnegie Institution of Washington), and possibly others. We're excited to play a role in these new scientific opportunities.

Toward the end of last month, we hosted a visit from the executive director and a research director at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Brookhaven works closely with New York State to advance its aggressive agenda for the development of alternative energies and the NSLS is an important part of this strategy. For example, members of the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium will participate in an energy storage workshop, held at the Lab this week, to identify research needs and explore the ways that synchrotron techniques can be used to address them.

We recently hosted a very successful workshop on hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES). The three-day conference attracted experts from around the globe to present an overview of the worldwide effort in HAXPES, a technique with great promise for studying the electronic structure of complex systems in-situ. Speakers highlighted the experimental and theoretical knowledge of HAXPES, focusing on new opportunities, new ideas, and future plans for solving both industrial and basic science problems. A growing number of our users are interested in HAXPES and the input from this workshop will help us formulate a plan for NSLS-II.

The spring shutdown is now complete and both rings are up and running without problems. Major items completed during this period include: replacement of the X27 mask and X-Ray RF system 3-plate power supply, start of the installation of a front end interlock master reset system, and replacement of the manual liquid nitrogen fill system. For further details, see Jim Murphy's Accelerator Complex Update in this edition of eNews.

On June 15, we'll mark the start of NSLS-II construction with a special ceremony held at Brookhaven. The celebration will include remarks by DOE and BNL staff and elected officials, displays, and entertainment, followed by a barbecue lunch for the entire Laboratory community. This is a key milestone in the construction of the new, vital facility. You can find more details here.

Finally, a group of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Northeastern University made a surprising discovery that a residue of a process used to build arrays of titania nanotubes plays an important role in improving the performance of the nanotubes in solar cells that produce hydrogen gas from water. Their results indicate that by controlling the deposition of potassium on the surface of the nanotubes, engineers can achieve significant energy savings in a promising new alternate energy system. You can read more in this issue of eNews.