European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
- ESRF redirects here, for the medical condition, see end stage renal failure
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is a joint research facility supported by 20 countries (12 Members countries: France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and 8 associates countries: Austria, Portugal, Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, South Africa)[1] situated in Grenoble, France. It has an annual budget of around 80 million euros, employs over 600 people and is host to more than 3500 visiting scientists each year.
Research at the ESRF focuses, in large part, on the use of X-ray radiation in fields as diverse as protein crystallography, earth science, paleontology, materials science, chemistry and physics. Facilities such as the ESRF offer a flux, energy range and resolution unachievable with conventional (laboratory) radiation sources.
The ESRF physical plant consists of two main buildings: the experiment hall, containing the 844 metre circumference ring and forty tangential beamlines; and a block of laboratories, preparation suites, and offices connected to the ring by a pedestrian bridge. The linear accelerator electron gun and smaller booster ring used to bring the beam to an operating energy of 6 GeV are constructed within the main ring. Until recently bicycles were provided for use indoors in the ring's circumferential corridor. Unfortunately they have been removed after some minor accidents. But even before this it was not possible to cycle continuously all the way around, since some of the beamlines exit the hall.
The ESRF site forms part of the "Polygone Scientifique", lying at the confluence of the Drac and Isère rivers about 1.5 km from the centre of Grenoble. It is served by local bus and the Lyon airport coach, which stops at the Place de la Résistance just outside the site.
The ESRF shares its site with several other institutions including the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). The Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) has an institute just across the road.
See also
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- List of Synchrotron Radiation Facilities
- European Research Area (ERA)
- TANGO (control system originally developed at the ESRF)
External links
References
Coordinates: 45°12′31.6″N 5°41′24.2″E / 45.208778°N 5.690056°E