Diamond Light Source

☀ Recently installed solar panels that cover the roof of Diamond Light Source are now fully operational! ⚡ The energy generated by the solar panels is an annual supply of 2.3GWh/y. This output amounts to around 5% of the facility’s total annual energy consumption. 🗨 Gianluigi Botton, CEO of Diamond Light Source, said: "The completed solar panel installation demonstrates our commitment to lowering the carbon footprint of our world-changing science. This is significant in the high-tech, specialised research and development sector that Diamond operates in.” Read more here. ⬇ https://lnkd.in/e2hZBXtv

⏪ A few months ago, you may have seen us share the work of Dr Peter Docker, R&D specialist at Diamond Light Source, and his work on creating an acoustic levitator used to suspend samples. 📽 In this video (yes, it is a video!) you can see how stable the sample held in the levitator is. Although levitation using Langevin Horns has been used for experimentation at synchrotrons before, they are often bulky, high power, and costly. These new systems utilising transducers from parking sensors are small, low power, adaptable and cheap! They offer many benefits including contactless sample environments; a ‘virtual test tube’ for time resolved studies where mixing can happen or light activated studies carried out. They also offer the potential for automation of sample delivery; traps filled with sample and processed down to the beam for data collection. Latest developments have seen the suspended sample achieve great stability. Currently 6 Diamond beamlines are exploring this technology with interest also from the Canadian Light Source Inc. / Centre canadien de rayonnement synchrotron and General Atomics.

🧲 In a recent study involving University of Oxford, Diamond Light Source and ShanghaiTech University, researchers have uncovered unexpected slow relaxation processes in chiral magnets, challenging our conventional understanding of magnetic dynamics. ⏳ This discovery reveals that chiral magnets can exhibit relaxation processes extending to hundreds of milliseconds or even seconds, far longer than previously predicted. These insights have profound implications for the development of next-generation spintronic devices, particularly those involving magnetic skyrmions. Understanding these slow relaxation processes could pave the way for new advancements in the field of magnetism and spintronics. Read the full article to explore how these findings could revolutionize our approach to magnetic materials and devices. 🌐 https://lnkd.in/eVh92ZPz University of Oxford | ShanghaiTech University

⏰🔁 20 years ago this month, Diamond's experimental hall was still under construction. Once completed, the experimental hall originally housed seven beamlines as a part of Phase I. Now, in Phase III, Diamond houses over 30 beamlines with more still to come as a part of the Diamond-II upgrade. Find out more about Diamond-II and its flagship beamlines below. 👇 https://lnkd.in/e46R52_e

🤝 Diamond is pleased to announce a new partnership agreement with Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative (MPK) has been established. 🎯 The aim of the agreement is to unite the two organisations in educational and scientific cooperation. This will include exchanging research expertise in shared fields of interest, as well as encouraging research visits between the two organisations. Find out more here. 👇 https://lnkd.in/e8uThSC4 Max Planck Institute | Pohang University of Science and Technology

🆕 💡 An update from Diamond's Biological Cryo-Imaging Group, with news on user community growth, eBIC, B24 and more, is available on our website. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eT9enP2j 📅 Every year, Diamond produces an Annual Review, covering the scientific, technical, computing and business updates from the facility. The feature above has been prepared for our latest review, and looks at work conducted between April 2023 to April 2024. https://lnkd.in/enX3yiPV

🏗 Work has started on a new Diamond-II flagship beamline! The Coherent Soft X-ray Imaging and Diffraction (CSXID) facility will give unprecedented insights into quantum and functional materials using ptychography combined with advanced sample environments. Find out more about Diamond-II below.⬇ https://lnkd.in/e46R52_e

🌊 Harnessing the power of water to produce clean, renewable hydrogen energy is a critical mission for humanity. Given the abundance of oceans on earth, and with freshwater supplies already depleted, the photocatalytic splitting of seawater offers vast potential for a sustainable hydrogen economy as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. ☀ The photocatalytic process of water-splitting uses sunlight to break down water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gases with a light-absorbing catalyst. But in the past, using seawater has been limited due to a range of difficulties. 📰 However, in January 2024, breakthrough results published in Nature Catalysis revealed for the first time that the natural ionic composition of seawater can improve photocatalytic efficiency at elevated temperatures (around 270°C) without additional sacrificial reagent. Find out about beamlines B07C's involvement in the science highlight below. ⬇ https://lnkd.in/ererQ7Zq University of Oxford | East China University of Science and Technology | Hong Kong Polytechnic University

🆕 💡 An update from Diamond's Macromolecular Crystallography Group, with news on beamline upgrades, collaborations, outreach and more, is available on our website. 👇 https://lnkd.in/ehJD8pbC 📅 Every year, Diamond produces an Annual Review, covering the scientific, technical, computing and business updates from the facility. The feature above has been prepared for our latest review, and looks at work conducted between April 2023 to April 2024. https://lnkd.in/enX3yiPV

🔒💻 At Diamond Light Source, we recognize that resilience in research is more crucial than ever, especially in the face of evolving cybersecurity challenges. Cheryn Tan, Senior Cyber Security Officer at Diamond, shares how Diamond is navigating unique challenges while tailoring its security awareness initiatives to an audience composed largely of scientists and research support staff. ⬇ GÉANT #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth