Looking Back on our Achievements and Towards New Opportunities

January 22, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year! I hope that all of you were able to enjoy the holiday season and are looking forward to an exciting new year!

Looking back on 2024, NSLS-II had an eventful and successful year. The NSLS-II community celebrated 10 years since first light; hosted a visit from the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm; and brought our user community together, in person, for the first time in years at our annual joint CFN/NSLS-II Users’ Meeting.

2,340 unique users conducted their research at NSLS-II and over 600 publications based on NSLS-II results were published, where more than half of them appeared in high-impact journals. Several groundbreaking NSLS-II results found their way into Brookhaven Lab’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2024, including research in single cell imaging, qubit production, battery development, and catalysis. Moreover, a team led by researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory observed promethium bonds in solution for the first time using spectroscopy at NSLS-II. Scientists from Brookhaven Lab and Columbia University found a new way to convert CO₂ into useful carbon nanofibers. In collaboration with the University of Surrey, NSLS-II researchers pushed the detection limits of the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe beamline to be able detect just a few hundred gallium atoms inside a silicon crystal. Fantastic results!

Our newest beamline, High Energy Engineering X-ray Scattering (HEX), started user operations in early 2024. The construction of the beamline was funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and allows for studies of important materials and assemblies, like batteries and fuel cells, under operating conditions.

NEXT-II and NEXT-III project updates

The NEXT-II project is making excellent progress. During the winter shutdown, the in-vacuum undulator for the Coherent Diffraction Imaging (CDI) beamline was successfully installed in the NSLS-II storage ring and the front end was completed.

The Nano ARPES/RIXS (ARI) and Soft X-ray Nanoprobe (SXN) beamline cabins and hutches are complete, and we are ready for the installation of the ARI endstation in February. Most of the X-ray mirrors for the ARI beamline have been delivered and are undergoing site acceptance testing.

The NEXT-III project successfully achieved CD-1 on Sept. 13, 2024 and the design of the new beamlines is well underway.

Maintenance period update

The winter shutdown was very busy and included, among many important activities, the final tie-in and commissioning of the second RF cryo system cold boxes. Congratulations to all who contributed to a successful shutdown!

Safety update

In our safety efforts, we are emphasizing situational awareness at NSLS-II for staff and users. Situational awareness is the ability to understand a situation, identify potential risks, and respond to them effectively. Situational awareness can be compromised by distractions like using one’s cells phone, rushing tasks, and lack of communication. Please “keep your head in the game” and be safe!

2025 NSLS-II and CFN Joint Users Meeting

The joint NSLS-II / CFN Users’ Meeting will be held onsite at Brookhaven Lab from April 28–30, 2025. Please bookmark the event’s homepage to stay up to date on registration, agenda updates, and other details.

I’m excited to see what the NSLS-II community will accomplish in this new year. Wishing you all a healthy, happy and successful 2025.

— Elke Arenholz, NSLS-II Director