Archives news 2009

The Nobel Prize in chemistry for 2009 was awarded to three researchers for their studies on the structure of the ribosome (organelles which produce proteins). The contribution of synchrotron radiation was decisive in this discovery because it enabled the researchers to obtain immediately usable diffraction data. Several synchrotrons in Europe and throughout the world contributed to this research. The SOLEIL beamlines PROXIMA 1 (in operation) and PROXIMA 2 (under construction) were designed to meet the extremely rigorous requirements of scientists who perform this type of research and will contribute to future discoveries in this field

Works on Stradivari varnishes have just been published in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie. They take place in the context of the setting-up of the European platform for ancient materials research IPANEMA (Loïc Bertrand, Laurianne Robinet) at SOLEIL. The infrared microscopy experiments were performed at the SMIS synchrotron beamline (Paul Dumas, Christophe Sandt). Discover the varnish composition of the most well-known instrument-maker.

--> See the interview of Loïc Bertrand, head of IPANEMA

Since mid-September 2009, SAMBA has been open to visitors wanting to work on its new “made in SOLEIL” Quick EXAFS station.

For the third consecutive year, SOLEIL (Hall 5A / Stand H70/H52F) participates in the exhibition of eco-activities, POLLUTEC, who takes place from 1^st till 4 December 2009 to Villepinte. SOLEIL indeed leads a scientific and technological meaning on the contributions of the synchrotron light for example in characterization of waste, analysis of environmental matrices (water, sediments, air, ground…), of new materials development for energetic proceeded or for the green chemistry.
 
This fundamental work is completed by tangible actions which have just obtained the label AGENDA 21 of the Essonne for, on one hand to decrease the ecological footprint of SOLEIL’s site and, on the other hand, to develop a platform which will propose to the academic and industrial users the palette of know-how, skills, equipment available on SOLEIL and adapted to the environmental and energy problems.

Next 20-22 November, SOLEIL will introduce its new “eco-designed” beamline in conjunction with the Fête de la Science (Science Festival). This 1:2 scale reproduction in recycled cardboard of a SOLEIL experimental facility will be used for numerous educational experiments explaining the machine’s physics and the role of optics at SOLEIL, as well as for experiments conducted by our teams. The only condition to come “try your hand” at a beamline experiment, is to be curious. Mark your calendar for 20, 21 and 22 November at the Moulon gymnasium in Gif-sur-Yvette with all the Ile de Science partners.
For additional information: www.iledescience.org

You will also find SOLEIL at the Vélizy-Villacoublay science village with entertaining experiments and models designed to help you understand the machine’s operation and its many applications.
For additional information: Info-Jeunes - Vélizy-Villacoublay, infojeunes@velizy.com, www.ville-velizy-villacoublay.fr

In 2003, a collaboration and research agreement between the CNRS and the SOLEIL national synchrotron was drawn up. This also included ELETTRA, the Italian synchrotron based in Trieste. The purpose of this agreement is to establish a formal collaboration between French and Italian research groups in the field of x-ray microscopy, and X-PEEM microscopy in particular (X-ray Photo-Emitted Electron Microscopy). SOLEIL’s X-PEEM microscope was therefore able to be installed on the French branch of the Nanospectroscopy beamline at ELETTRA whilst waiting for the soft x-ray microscopy beamline to be built at SOLEIL, where it is due to be installed in late 2010.

In a multidisciplinary study jointly conducted by three French research groups, analyses were carried out on hepatic steatosis. These studies have provided evidence of the localized heterogeneity of the pathological tissue and shown that variations in its composition can be detected at very early stages by spectroscopic approach, in particular using infrared, with facilities such as at synchrotron SOLEIL.

>> Publication in the journal PLoS ONE
>> SMIS beamline

Enzymes involved in biodegradation are very important in the recycling of enormous quantities of carbon coming from natural, industrial and agricultural sources. A team from the University of Leeds (Elena Kovaleva and Arwen Pearson) have been using SOLEIL PROXIMA I beamline in order to study the role of protein dynamics in the catalytic reaction of an enzyme which activates molecular oxygen in order to catalyse the opening of an aromatic ring of a substrate.

The two lightsources based in France, the ESRF in Grenoble, and SOLEIL in Paris, will welcome the next Synchrotron Radiation and Instrumentation (SRI) meeting, which will take place in 2012. The decision has just been announced at this year’s SRI conference, which has brought together 700 participants and is finishing today in Melbourne (Australia).

SOLEIL was open on an exceptional basis on Saturday, 19 September to celebrate European Heritage Days, offering over 500 visitors from all over the Ile-de-France region the opportunity to discover the synchrotron and its current applications, particularly in the field of ancient materials (archaeology, palaeontology, palaeoenvironment and heritage conservation).

The sunny day provided the perfect backdrop for this festive event enjoyed by all thanks to the hospitality and cooperative effort of the communication teams of SOLEIL and IPANEMA, who hosted this event.

Those who were lucky enough to visit our facility had the chance to participate in several special events proposed by the ARKEOMEDIA association, including workshops on human evolution, ceramography, prehistoric rock paintings and archaeozoology.

Young and old alike were also fascinated by SOLEIL’s light workshops and the special exhibition titled “Matière à fouille, fouilles dans la matières” (which loosely translates as “digging through ancient materials”); also featured were showings of presentation videos by SOLEIL and IPANEMA and a video on experiments with ancient materials.

--> See the film about Heritage days at SOLEIL

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TWIST, https://twist.synchrotron-soleil.fr, is an application used to search, view, and download experimental data acquired by scientists at the SOLEIL Synchrotron...

A team of AILES users, the SOLEIL infrared spectroscopy beamline, has obtained, in the beginning of July, spectra of pure rotation of the Methyl-formate ( HCOOCH3), at frequencies lower than 1 THz (<30 cm^-1).

“European Heritage Days” is a popular annual event that offers people in France the opportunity to visit historic monuments and sites.
 
In conjunction with the 26^th annual celebration of European Heritage Days, SOLEIL synchrotron will open its doors to all on Saturday 19^th of September with the objective of introducing visitors to one of its new fields of expertise: ancient materials.

On December 10^th and 11^th 2008 the first diffraction experiment was carried out on the MARS beamline, in collaboration with a CEA/DEN team...

When a VUV photon is absorbed by a molecule in the gas phase, one of the main relaxation processes is photoionization, i.e. electron ejection, leaving the molecular cation with a given internal energy (electronic, vibrational and rotational). In many cases, the cation is formed in a dissociative state leading to its fragmentation. The photon energy deposited is therefore shared between the electron kinetic energy, the fragments translational energy and the internal energy of the fragments.

On 15 July, the SOLEIL synchrotron, in agreement with its Board of Directors – the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) –, approved the start of the last stage of studies leading to the construction of the IPANEMA building. This unique instrumental platform that is like no other in the world will facilitate access to synchrotron techniques for scientific communities working with “ancient materials”. The project will be officially launched during European Heritage Days in September 2009.

Funding for an International Science Linkage, under the French Australian Science and Technology Programme (FAST) has enabled collaboration between the Australian Synchrotron and the Synchrotron SOLEIL to share their expertise in the study of live biological samples and in the study of materials at high pressure.

The first electron spectra were recorded on PLEIADES the night of May 23^rd, 2009. These testified to the exceptional possibilities offered by this beamline to those interested in the study of dilute matter using inner shell spectroscopy. Welcome to the ultra high resolution chemical physics.

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) materials, such as ZrW₂O₈ and other related ompounds are of intense current interest and many experimental and theoretical investigations have been reported and they emphasize the role played by the low energy phonons to explain this unusual behavior.

Ice formation, the crystallisation of igneous rock, and metallurgical and vitroceramic processes are a few examples which illustrate the importance of the crystallisation of liquids in natural and industrial processes. On a microscopic scale, however, the structural rearrangements that characterise the initial stages of the crystallisation of an amorphous material are not well understood. This leaves tremendous scope to improve the control and the understanding of crystallisation, particularly at high degrees of supercooling, where the transformation is highly irreversible. This is the context in which we decided to study medium-range changes of order occurring in a fused silicate starting to crystallise in the presence of a nucleating agent...

The family of porous solids, also called zeolites (there are 48 natural zeolites and around 200 synthetic ones) has many applications, in chemistry, petrochemicals and catalysis, as well as in biology and pharmacology. The unique properties of these minerals originate in their atomic structures. The “porous solids” group at the Institut Lavoisier (Versailles) is developing methods of synthesis and is studying the properties of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs): these molecules are composed of a skeleton combining organic and inorganic components, connected three-dimensionally. Using the CRISTAL beamline, this research group has sought to determine the crystalline structures of several materials with a high resolution powder diffractometer.

>> See the film

In this study, carried out in collaboration with the research groups of C. F. Matta (Department of Chemistry and Physics, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax), M. Stradiotto (Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada) and C. Lecomte (CRM2, Institut Jean Barriol, Nancy), the detailed information obtained from high resolution X-ray diffraction experiments is used as an alternative way of determining the physico-chemical properties of rhodium Rh (I) complexes and, in particular, their reaction mechanism.

>> See the film

On Thursday, 16 April 2009, the National Research Foundation, a South African research funding organization, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SOLEIL intended to facilitate collaborative research efforts in targeted areas of the nanosciences and life, health and environmental sciences. The NRF will fund short stays for South African scientists at SOLEIL to prepare for such collaborative research efforts, to facilitate the learning of synchrotron technologies and to prepare requests for access to beam time via the Programme Committees. In return, SOLEIL agrees to provide free access to scientists from that country who have been accepted for beam time allocation by the Committees.

Nanomagnetism and spintronics have been receiving an ever increasing attention over the past two decades.

How can we reduce the amount of salt in products that require significant quantities of salt in their manufacture? Thierry Astruc, from the Animal Product Quality Unit (INRA, Clermont Ferrand) came to SOLEIL to look for answers to this question.

On Friday, 28 November 2008, SOLEIL welcomed the first class of students registered in the Nanomat International Master’s programme to the TEMPO beamline for practical workshops on the topic of photoemission.

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