This award supports the operation of the Center for High Energy X-ray Science (CHEXS) at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) as a national user facility. CHEXS consists of a suite of four high-energy X-ray beamlines that serve the national user community in specifically targeted research areas. Each beamline seamlessly integrates sample/specimen preparation, data collection, and data processing, and is optimized for operation by domain scientists rather than by expert X-ray users. Education and training is being integrated into all aspects of the facility, addressing the education and training of researchers having little prior experience with X-rays and the education of undergraduate students from Under Represented Groups (URGs) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). NSF funds from the Directorates for Biological Sciences, the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and the Directorate for Engineering support the following four specific beamlines: - Forming and Shaping Technology, FAST, Beamline which supports sub-millisecond time-resolved studies of manufacturing processes such as laser welding and rapid quenching. The rich datasets obtained rigorously benchmarks transformational new models enabled by advanced computational tools; - the High-Pressure Biology,Hp-Bio, Beamline: the sophisticated new sample cells of the "HP-Bio" beamline enables precise high-pressure structural studies of the rules of life at the molecular level, a regime not currently accessible to biologists. - Q-Mapping for Quantum Materials (QM2) Beamline provides high-throughput characterization of quantum materials in reciprocal space (also known as "Q-space") to uncover intertwined quantum correlations of spins, charges, and orbitals, from high to low temperatures and spanning entire phase diagrams. - Photon-in, Photon-out X-ray Spectroscopy (PIPOXS) Beamline enables spectroscopic studies of valence electronic states in functional - materials using hard x-rays, allowing access to opaque materials or sample environments. In situ and operando studies of man-made catalysts and enzymes is the initial focus with additional applications to fuel-cells, batteries, and electronic excitations in quantum materials. CHEXS is also engaged in development of X-ray technologies targeted to achieve CHEXS science goals, including new high-energy undulator insertion devices, diamond high-heat load optics, and focusing for analysis by custom-fabricated glass capillary optics or channel arrays. CHEXS supports post-docs and Ph.D. students, hosts hands-on scientific workshops to train new users in X-ray methods, provides summer training and mentorship programs targeting undergraduates from underrepresented groups in STEM fields, and provides high quality informational materials to the general public.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
