SPring-8, on the Harima Science Garden City in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, is one of the world’s largest and most powerful synchrotron radiation facilities — a high-energy 8 GeV storage ring that delivers some of the brightest hard X-rays available anywhere.
The name SPring-8 stands for “Super Photon ring – 8 GeV”, the energy of the electrons circulating in its storage ring. That high energy lets the facility generate radiation spanning the soft X-ray region to very hard X-rays, with brilliance among the highest in the world. Up to several dozen undulators can be installed independently, and unusually long straight sections allow insertion devices of up to 25 m, alongside specialised long-beamline facilities.
At a glanceFacility profile
- Location
- Sayo, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
- Operator
- RIKEN, with the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) managing user access
- Type
- Third-generation, high-energy synchrotron
- Energy
- 8 GeV
- Circumference
- 1,436 m
- Beam current
- 100 mA
- Beamlines
- Around 60 in operation
- First light
- 1997
- Website
- spring8.or.jp
The scienceWhat researchers do here
SPring-8’s hard X-rays are ideally suited to probing dense and complex materials. Researchers use the facility for nanotechnology and quantum materials, structural biology and drug discovery, catalysis and energy storage, and a wide range of industrial applications — from automotive components and semiconductors to cultural-heritage analysis. Its high photon energies make it possible to study samples under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature, and to peer inside engineering parts non-destructively.
A high-energy workhorse open to the world: any researcher whose proposal is accepted may use the facility, whether from academia, government or industry.
SACLA and the road to SPring-8-II
SPring-8 shares its site with SACLA, a compact X-ray free-electron laser that produces ultrashort, ultra-intense X-ray pulses for studying matter on femtosecond timescales. Looking ahead, the planned SPring-8-II upgrade will rebuild the storage ring with a modern low-emittance lattice, increasing brilliance and coherence by orders of magnitude and securing the facility’s place at the frontier of X-ray science.
Access for researchers
SPring-8 runs in two half-year research terms (A and B). Proposals are reviewed on merit, and accepted users from Japan and abroad are scheduled for beam time in the relevant term. Calls and deadlines are published on the facility’s website.