Advanced Photon Source

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory (in Argonne, Illinois, USA) is a national synchrotron-radiation light source research facility funded by the United States Department of Energy Office of Science. The facility "saw first light" on March 26, 1995. Argonne National Laboratory is managed by UChicago Argonne LLC, which is composed of the University of Chicago and Jacobs Engineering Group.

Using high-brilliance X-ray beams from the APS, members of the international synchrotron-radiation research community conduct forefront basic and applied research in the fields of materials science and biological science; physics and chemistry; environmental, geophysical and planetary science; and innovative X-ray instrumentation. As of 2015^[update], APS held the distinction of being the facility at which 21 of the 30 known g-protein coupled receptor protein structures had been solved.

Electrons are produced by a hot cathode that is heated to about 1,100 °C (2,000 °F). The electrons are accelerated to relativistic speeds (99.999+% of the speed of light) with an energy of 450 MeV in a linear accelerator. From the linear accelerator, the electrons are injected into the booster synchrotron. Here, the electrons are sent around an oval racetrack of electromagnets, providing further acceleration. Within one-half second, the electrons reach 7 GeV of energy. Upon reaching that energy, the electrons are injected into the storage ring, a 1,104-metre (3,622 ft) circumference ring of more than 1,000 electromagnets.

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