SOLEIL

SOLEIL
SOLEIL on 10 June 2009
General properties
Accelerator typeSynchrotron light source
Beam typeelectrons
Target typeLight source
Beam properties
Maximum energy2.75 GeV
Physical properties
Circumference354 metres (1,161 ft)
LocationSaint-Aubin, France
Coordinates48°42′36″N2°08′42″E / 48.71000°N 2.14500°E / 48.71000; 2.14500
Dates of operation2006 - present
Diagram of machinery
View of the interior of facility

SOLEIL ("Sun" in French) is a synchrotron facility near Paris, France. It performed its first acceleration of electrons on May 14, 2006. The name SOLEIL is a backronym for Source Optimisée de Lumière d’Énergie Intermédiaire du LURE (LURE optimised intermediary energy light source), LURE meaning Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation du Rayonnement Électromagnétique.

The facility is run by a civil corporation held by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), two French national research agencies. It is located in Saint-Aubin in the Essonnedépartement, a south-western suburb of Paris, near Gif-sur-Yvette and Saclay, which host other facilities for nuclear and particle physics.

The facility is an associate member of the University of Paris-Saclay.

SOLEIL also hosts IPANEMA, the European research platform on ancient materials (archaeology, palaeontology, past environments and cultural heritage), a joint CNRS / French Ministry of Culture and Communication research unit.

SOLEIL covers fundamental research needs in physics, chemistry, material sciences, life sciences (notably in the crystallography of biological macromolecules), earth sciences, and atmospheric sciences. It offers the use of a wide range of spectroscopic methods from infrared to X-rays, and structural methods such as X-ray diffraction and scattering.[1]

Main parameters

SOLEIL contains electrons travelling with an energy of 2.75 GeV around a 354 m circumference. It takes the electrons 1.2 μs to travel around this ring at almost the speed of light; 847,000 times per second.[2]

Most Cited Scientists at Synchrotron SOLEIL

According to Google Scholar, the current top 10 most cited scientists affiliated with Synchrotron SOLEIL are:[3]

  • John Bozek
 Citations: 25,935 Research Areas: X-ray physics, synchrotron radiation, XFEL, chemical physics, ultrafast X-ray 
  • Jose Avila
 Citations: 17,106 Research Areas: Not specified 
  • Amina Taleb Ibrahimi
 Citations: 14,128 Research Areas: Condensed matter physics, low-dimensional systems 
  • Timm Weitkamp
 Citations: 12,812 Research Areas: X-ray imaging, microtomography, X-ray microscopy, X-ray phase contrast imaging 
  • Laurent Nahon
 Citations: 12,133 Research Areas: Chirality, circular dichroism, molecular photoionization, VUV spectroscopy, polarimetry 
 Citations: 10,715 Research Areas: Physical chemistry, materials for energy and hydrogen 
  • Pavel Dudin
 Citations: 9,171 Research Areas: Band structure, materials science, topological insulators, graphene, superconductors 
  • François Bertran
 Citations: 9,019 Research Areas: Physics 
  • Pierre Legrand
 Citations: 8,743 Research Areas: Structural virology, nucleic acid–protein interaction, crystallography, cryo-EM, tomography, synchrotron 
  • Andrea Resta
 Citations: 8,310 Research Areas: Surface science, catalysis, nano objects, thin films 

References