eBERlight—A User Program for Biological and Environmental Research at the Advanced Photon Source
Authors:
Karolina Michalska* ([email protected], PI), Zou Finfrock, Alex Lavens, Gyorgy Babnigg, Youngchang Kim,
Changsoo Chang, Kemin Tan, Jerzy Osipiuk, Michael Endres, Hannah Parraga, Kenneth Kemner
Institutions:
Argonne National Laboratory
Abstract
The eBERlight program at Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) offers comprehensive support to research communities specializing in biological and environmental science. Utilizing synchrotron radiation, the program aids in the understanding of complex Earth systems and offers user support for project development, proposal design, workflow creation, and data analysis. Operating across multiple APS beamlines, eBERlight provides access to the state-of- the-art instrumentation for macromolecular crystallography, X-ray full field imaging (computed tomography), X-ray fluorescence microscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, scattering and coherent diffractive imaging (including ptychography). To ensure an optimal infrastructure for demanding experiments, eBERlight leverages additional campus resources for sample preparation and computational data analysis. The ongoing upgrade of the APS facility will greatly improve X-ray capabilities, enabling imaging of larger samples at high resolution, enhancing spatial resolution and addressing dynamic processes. Through high-throughput, multidimensional data collection, unprecedented statistical analysis of complex, heterogenous systems will become attainable. Additionally, simultaneous recording of structural and kinetic data will enable tracking correlations between molecular motions and chemistry, providing valuable insights through serial and time-resolved macromolecular crystallography. These developments will enable researchers to address complex questions relevant to the biological, geological, geochemical, biogeochemical, and environmental sciences.
Funding Information
Argonne National Laboratory is operated by UChicago Argonne, LLC for DOE under contract number DE-AC02-06CH11357.