Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource

The extremely bright light that is produced can be used to investigate various forms of matter ranging from objects of atomic and molecular size to man-made materials with unusual properties.

The obtained information and knowledge is of great value to society, with impact in areas such as the environment, future technologies, health, biology, basic research, and education.

[1] SSRL provides experimental facilities to some 2,000 academic and industrial scientists working in such varied fields as drug design, environmental cleanup, electronics, and x-ray imaging.

In 1972, the first x-ray beamline was constructed by Ingolf Lindau and Piero Pianetta as literally a "hole in the wall" extending off of the SPEAR storage ring.

Today, the SPEAR storage ring is dedicated completely to the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource as part of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory facility.

Photograph inside the SSRL accelerator ring.
Historic SSRL 1972. First x-ray beamline.