Activity at the APS, since groundbreaking in 1990, has centered on developing, constructing and implementing the technology to make the machine work. Argonne researchers have developed a device that can tell if the beam is on target while withstanding the searing heat the X-rays generate. In order to generate a constant intensity X-ray beam for long periods of time, the beam of charged particles must circulate through the storage ring without striking anything, even something as small as a gas molecule, or the positrons will scatter. The storage ring's vacuum system, developed at Argonne, will remove all but one atom out of every trillion present in normal atmosphere. In addition, the beams from the facility will be 10,000 times more brilliant than most other sources.
Brighter light reveals more details in structure and allows faster image-taking.
A photographer attempting to photograph in dim light uses a slow shutter speed to allow time for more light to reach the photographic film. In bright light, much faster shutter speeds are possible. Often bright-light pictures are sharper, because they capture a shorter moment in time. With such fast picture-taking abilities, scientists will make motion pictures of chemical processes in action. The radiation from the APS can be pulsed like a strobe light to capture images of the intermediate arrangements of atoms and molecules as they react with one another and change shape.