Dear colleagues,

Most of the SLS 2.0 upgrade has already been completed and we are expecting the first beam this year so that the modernised Swiss Light Source can be made available for cutting-edge scientific research from 2025 onwards. With the modernisation of the SLS, the demands on IT are also increasing for controlling the machine, and for reading out and then also processing and storing the data.

The number of network devices in the inner ring alone will increase by a factor of five, from the original 500 in the SLS to more than 2.500 in the SLS 2.0 — and that is just the beginning. The individual beamlines are constantly being modernised and their requirements will also increase enormously.

With our vision "our modern IT supports and promotes world-class research at PSI", we emphasise our efforts to provide an adequate IT infrastructure and user-friendly applications for the large-scale research facilities and to promote collaboration with the various units at PSI. The Information Technology Department (AIT) supports the researchers before, during and after the experiment. This ranges from the provision of classic components such as storage, servers, network, identity and access management, first level support, collaboration tools and remote access to the archiving of data in the PetaByte archive at the CSCS and the necessary measures for risk-based cyber security. In light of the current threat situation and outages at other facilities, such as HZB in Berlin, the implementation of our GUARDIANS (Guaranteeing Uncompromised Academic and Research Data Integrity And Network Security) programme is a top priority.

We are currently examining the use of Generative AI to make processes even more efficient and thus further improve the user experience. We recognise the pivotal role of IT services in not only supporting but also enhancing and driving forward the research and institutional objectives of PSI. Our vision is to create an IT ecosystem that is both resilient and adaptive, capable of meeting the challenges of today while being flexible enough to evolve with the needs of tomorrow.

Ronny Peterhans
on behalf of the PSI IT Department, Center for Corporate Services - CCS 

A call for SLS proposals will be announced towards the end of the SLS 2.0 upgrade project. An overview of all proposal submission deadlines of the PSI facilities can be found here.

Since 2010, SLS scientists have been developing microscopy methods with the aim of producing three-dimensional (3D) images in the nanometre range. In their current research, a collaboration with EPFL in Lausanne, ETH Zurich and the University of Southern California, they have succeeded for the first time in imaging state-of-the-art microchips with a resolution of 4 nanometres, a world record. The key to their success is a technique known as ptychography, in which many individual images are combined to create a single high-resolution image. They have now pushed the boundaries of X-ray ptychographic imaging — breaking in the process their own record set in 2017 — by implementing 'burst ptychography', which overcomes experimental instabilities and provides an acquisition rate of 14.000 3D resolution elements per second, 170 times faster than previously possible. Moreover, they used tomographic back-propagation reconstruction, allowing them to image samples up to ten times larger than the conventional depth of field.

T. Aidukas et al., Nature 632, 81 (2024)
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07615-6

Take a stroll through your local supermarket and you will be left in no doubt that plant-based meat analogues are on the rise. The meat-like fibrous structures of such products are obtained by high-moisture extrusion cooking, with texturization thought to occur mainly during solidification in a cooling die. However, the exact mechanisms underlying this process remain not fully understood. An interdisciplinary team working at SINQ has now studied fibre evolution in situ by small-angle neutron scattering. The measurements showed that, contrary to existing theories, macroscopic fibre structures do not arise from changes at the molecular level. Instead, the observed patterns indicate the presence of densely packed protein nano-aggregates of around 40 nm consisting of globular proteins with a diameter of 9 nm. Based on these findings, the authors propose that the central elements for the formation of macroscopic, meat-like fibres are a chain-like arrangement of nano-aggregates, fractures of the viscoelastic mass in the flow field, and sharp temperature-dependent solidification.

T. Guan et al., Food Hydrocolloids 155, 110215 (2024)
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2024.110215

Strongly correlated transition-metal oxides such as LaNiO₃ exhibit a wide range of exotic phenomena emerging from the interplay of electronic, spin and lattice degrees of freedom. These properties can be further enhanced in hybrid heterostructures. As an outstanding example, in the LaNiO₃/LaTiO₃ superlattice an interlayer electron transfer from LaTiO₃ into LaNiO₃ has been observed, giving rise to a high-spin state. However, macroscopic emergence of magnetic order associated with this high-spin state has not been observed so far. Now a team of researchers working at SµS and SLS as well as at the ESRF in France and the Diamond Light Source in the UK has combined muon spin rotation, X-ray absorption and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to obtain direct evidence for a novel antiferromagnetic order with strong magnetic exchange interactions at the LaNiO₃/LaTiO₃ interface. These results suggest that the interface can essentially behave as a strongly correlated quasi-2D antiferromagnet — with potential technological applications in advanced spintronic devices.

T.C. Asmara et al., Advanced Materials 2024, 2310668 (2024)
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202310668

Pump–probe experiments at X-ray free-electron lasers have opened up an avenue for following electronic and nuclear changes during light-induced reactions on femtosecond to millisecond timescales. In particular, time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography (TR-SFX) has provided detailed structural data for a broad range of biological systems. A persistent problem is, however, that all ultrafast TR-SFX studies to date have used such high pump-laser energies that nominally several photons were absorbed per chromophore, potentially leading to non-physiological protein responses. With this issue in mind, an international team of researchers has performed at SwissFEL ultrafast pump–probe SFX experiments on the photodissociation of carboxymyoglobin and obtained markedly different results depending on whether single or multiple photons were absorbed, in agreement with quantum chemical analysis — underlining both the feasibility and the necessity of performing ultrafast TR-SFX pump–probe experiments in the linear photoexcitation regime. 

T.R.M. Barends et al., Nature 626, 905 (2024)
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07032-9

Our understanding of Nature at short distance scales is collected in the Standard Model of particle physics (SM), which explains the constituents of matter and their interaction. Theory predictions validate the SM in experiments and facilitate the search for new physics. Such predictions rely on Feynman integrals, which quantify how virtual particles affect observed ones. Their reliable integration requires advances in sophisticated mathematical methods. Exploiting synergies between the energy and the precision frontiers in particle physics, researchers have recently obtained for the first time Feynman integrals for the scattering of four massless and one massive particle, including two virtual particle loops. This result enables high-precision analysis of processes involving a heavy particle (a W, Z or Higgs boson) and jets at the LHC.  The integrals can also be used in the Monte Carlo code McMule, developed at PSI, to obtain predictions for low-energy scattering and decay processes investigated at PSI and other facilities.

S. Abreu et al, Physical Review Letters 132, 141601 (2024)
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.141601

A unique course for Master students

This year's PSI course for Master students took place from 17 to 21 June on the PSI campus and provided 22 students with an in-depth introduction to the use of photons, neutrons and muons for condensed-matter physics and materials science. In the mornings, lectures provided a broad overview and conceptual background, and in the afternoons the participants had the opportunity to visit PSI's large-scale facilities and familiarize themselves with selected instruments. This edition of the course once again brought a group of bright students with diverse backgrounds to PSI, from three universities and of six different nationalities.

The Zuoz School’s 26th edition

From 4 to 10 August, the 26th PSI Particle Physics Summer School took place at the Lyceum Alpinum in Zouz, with close to 100 participants. The school is a biennial opportunity for young physicists to receive didactical introductions to advanced key concepts in particle physics. The topic of this year's school was "From Low to High: Particle Physics at the Frontier" and it featured lectures on precision Higgs physics, QCD and parton showers, the Standard Model and beyond, precision low-energy physics, B‑Physics as well as an introduction to lattice QCD and accelerator physics and modelling. The evening lecture covered cosmology and gravitational waves. A special feature of the Zuoz School is the mix of experimentalists and theorists, with ample time for discussions and exchange of ideas and experiences. Last but not least, the school serves as an opportunity for the young scientists to network and get a broader view of the rich field of particle physics.

SLS: A high-throughput method for room-temperature macromolecular crystallography from cryo-cooled crystals

Synchrotron cryo-crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy are cornerstones of biological-process elucidation and drug discovery. However, differences between cryogenic and room temperature (RT) crystal structures pose a challenge. SLS researchers have now introduced a high-throughput RT data-collection method, Cryo2RT, which takes advantage of the well-established synchrotron cryo-crystallography workflow. The procedure involves cooling the crystals in liquid nitrogen in the laboratory, transporting them to the synchrotron under cryogenic conditions as usual, and thawing the crystals on the goniometer immediately prior to X-ray data collection. Tests show that after the cooling/thawing process, RT structures can be obtained with a throughput comparable to cryo-crystallography, enabling high-throughput fragment-based screening at RT, applicable to serial crystallography approaches — perfectly suited for structure-based drug discovery.

SINQ: Large progress on small-angle neutron scattering instrument SANS-LLB

The new SANS-LLB is a general-purpose small-angle neutron scattering instrument, developed in close collaboration with the Laboratoire Léon Brillouin (LLB, France), with various sample environments and a special focus on soft matter and time-resolved measurements to follow dynamic processes. This advanced instrument features two detectors that cover a wide range of scattering vectors and a semi-transparent beam stop, allowing for the simultaneous measurement of scattering and transmission signals. Recent progress includes several key highlights: the large- and small-angle detectors have undergone extensive testing and are performing flawlessly, thanks to the integration of cutting-edge PSI electronics. We have already initiated internal experiments and standard measurements, laying the groundwork for significantly enhancing soft matter research capabilities at PSI. Looking ahead, SANS-LLB is expected to be included in the upcoming call for proposals in May 2025. 

SμS: Cancellation of call I-25 for GPD

We regret to inform users that the General Purpose Decay-Channel Spectrometer (GPD) instrument will not be available for the upcoming call I-25, which covers beamtime allocation from June to September 2025. This is due to an ongoing technical issue: the helium liquefier in the PSI experimental hall, which supplies the superconducting decay-channel solenoid in the muE1 beamline, has been out of service since early July. As a result, the beam rate at GPD has dropped significantly, making normal user operation impossible. A repair attempt in late August was unsuccessful and the manufacturer is currently investigating the cause of the malfunction. Therefore, all beam times scheduled until early November have already been cancelled. These cancelled beam times, together with the accepted proposals from the II-24 call, will be rescheduled for the period July to September 2025. 

SwissFEL: Fire update

You may have heard already: In early July a small fire has damaged a modulator of the SwissFEL injector with significant impact on our user operations — we had to immediately cancel one week of user experiments on short notice. 

Our subsequent machine studies before the shutdown showed that it was more difficult to set up the machine again with one of the critical RF stations prior to the first bunch compressor missing. As we were not sufficiently confident that we can offer beam to users with the quality and reliability that we expect from SwissFEL, we further decided to suspend user operations until early October. 

Thanks to the good collaboration within the light source community, we were able to obtain essential modulator components from the Canadian Light Source. These components should arrive in Switzerland as we write this short update. Locally, the damage has already been repaired and the cabling of the modulator has been restored.  

Currently we are doing everything we can to be back in full operations in early October to resume SwissFEL experiments. We would like to thank our users community for their understanding and supportive feedback, the Canadian Light Source for their help, and all our colleagues at PSI for the tremendous effort to get us back into operations. 

CHRISP: Hyperparameter searches to aid secondary beamline optimization from design to operation

PSI delivers the currently most intense continuous muon beam in the world, with up to a few 10⁸ μ⁺/s. The goal of the High Intensity Muon Beams (HIMB) project is to upgrade the beamlines to reach even higher intensities of 10¹⁰ μ⁺/s, which will have a substantial impact on low-energy, high-precision muon experiments. Simulations of the new HIMB beamline layouts using hyperparameter search algorithms have shown that not only the stringent rate requirements can be met, but also that higher phase-space quality can be achieved. To reach these high-quality tunes also during commissioning, a novel, automated beamline tuning approach is required, due to the large aberrations introduced by the use of solenoidal elements along the HIMB beamlines. Two new papers now describe the implementation and use of such large-scale optimization strategies in both the simulation of the HIMB beamlines and the commissioning of the existing Compact Muon Beam Line in the piE5 area at PSI.

Dear colleagues,

The rotating term of the current PSI Users Association JUSAP committee will end in December 2024. The election/re-election of the JUSAP Board members for the next four years (2025–2028) will be organized in the autumn and the electronic vote of the PSI user community will be set up shortly thereafter. We thank in advance all members of the PSI user community for their participation and support in the election process.

The ReMade@ARI project (Recyclable Materials Development at Analytical Research Infrastructures) offers tailored services designed to support circular materials research.

As part of the project, materials can be explored by using an extended range of analytical techniques, which are made available at more than 50 advanced analytical research infrastructures in Europe, ranging from synchrotrons and neutron sources to laser laboratories and NMR facilities. Access to these advanced research infrastructures is granted on the basis of accepted proposals. 

The ReMade@ARI project has currently two open calls for proposals: (i) ReMade-TNA (access for academic and industrial users, proposal submission deadline 9 October 2024) and, (ii) ReMade-SME (access for small and medium enterprises, proposal submission deadline 16 December 2024). Scientists are also invited to submit pre-proposals to receive scientific support from the smart science cluster team of ReMade@ARI to turn their ideas into a full proposal, if needed (pre-proposal submission by 25 September 2024).

We encourage all members of the PSI user community to contact us regarding any issues related to user operation at PSI.

Yours sincerely,

Joanna Hoszowska and Annick Froideval
On behalf of the JUSAP committee

You will find the PSI User Office now at our new location in building WBBC at the front area of the PSI West parking lot. The building is open and can be accessed without badge from Monday-Friday between 07:30 and 17:00.

Soon also an open office space for our users will be available in this building! We look forward to welcoming you in WBBC!

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