Swiss Light Source (SLS)

The Swiss Light Source (SLS), at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Villigen, is Switzerland’s national synchrotron — a third-generation source designed for exceptional brightness, a wide wavelength range and outstanding beam stability.

SLS began its experimental programme in 2001 and was designed from the outset around quality, flexibility and stability — high brightness, a broad spectrum from infrared to hard X-rays, and very tightly controlled temperature conditions that keep both the electron beam and the photon beams remarkably steady. In 2008 it achieved a then world-record vertical emittance of 3 picometre-radians. The facility is open to academic and industrial users from Switzerland and abroad.

At a glanceFacility profile

Location

Villigen, Switzerland

Operator

Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)

Type

Third-generation synchrotron, infrared to hard X-rays

Energy

2.4 GeV

Beam current

400 mA

Beamlines

16 and more in operation

First light

2001

Website

psi.ch/sls

The scienceWhat researchers do here

SLS is known for its imaging and tomography, protein crystallography and electronic-structure spectroscopy. Its beamlines support high-resolution X-ray microscopy and nano-tomography, studies of catalysts and materials under operating conditions, the magnetism and electronic order of quantum materials, and macromolecular structure determination. The stability of the source makes it especially powerful for techniques such as coherent diffraction imaging and ptychography, where the beam must stay precisely fixed for long acquisitions.

Stability as a scientific tool: by holding its beam steady to a remarkable degree, SLS makes possible imaging that would blur on a less stable machine.

The next generationThe SLS 2.0 upgrade

SLS has been comprehensively upgraded to SLS 2.0, in which the original storage ring was replaced by a modern multi-bend-achromat lattice. The new design reduces the beam emittance dramatically, increasing brightness and coherent flux by orders of magnitude and giving the facility a major boost in resolution for imaging and spectroscopy of complex, real-world materials.