Swiss Light Source - SLS
COVID-19: SLS is in full 24/7 user operation
The SLS is in full 24/7 user operation with safety measures against COVID-19 infections in place. Currently international business travel is still restricted and thus not all users can reach Switzerland. Please see below or on the user office pages further information entitled 'Important information for SLS and SwissFEL users'.
The Swiss Light Source (SLS) at the Paul Scherrer Institut is a third-generation synchrotron light source. With an energy of 2.4 GeV, it provides photon beams of high brightness for research in materials science, biology and chemistry.
SLS is part of the Photon Science Division. The facility has world-leading instruments at its beamlines for unraveling the structure of proteins, for in-depth 3D imaging of matter, and for investigating how the electrons of atoms and molecules keep matter together and render it properties such as magnetism and electron conduction at zero resistance (‘superconductivity’).
- The beamlines for protein structure determination are intensively used by pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland and abroad. SLS is also leading in the development of pixelated X-ray detectors. The company DECTRIS has been spun off from these activities.
- In something as complex as a human being structures and processes occur on all length scales from macroscopic down to atomic dimensions. The SLS host a variety of techniques to address problems on different length scales.
- Materials with new, functional properties are the scope of intense research, since they offer fascinating insights into fundamental interactions and hold promise for advanced technologies which is highly needed. The SLS host world-leading capability in advanced materials spectroscopy ranging from photoemission spectroscopy, over spectromicroscopy to different X-ray absorption, scattering and diffraction techniques.
- A further focus is to provide advanced micro- and nanofabrication technologies to academic and industrial users, in particular in the area of polymer nanotechnology.
Current operation status
Latest Scientific Highlights and News
A star is born
Swiss Light Source SLS reveals complex chemistry inside ‘stellar nurseries’
High-tech company VDL ETG: PSI’s new neighbour
The Dutch company VDL ETG has signed a rental agreement with Park Innovaare.
Visualizing Higher-Fold Topology in Chiral Crystals
Novel topological phases of matter are fruitful platforms for the discovery of unconventional electromagnetic phenomena. Higher-fold topology is one example, where the low-energy description goes beyond standard model analogs. Despite intensive experimental studies, conclusive evidence remains elusive for the multigap topological nature of higher-fold chiral fermions. In this Letter, we leverage a combination of fine-tuned chemical engineering and photoemission spectroscopy with photon energy contrast to discover the higher-fold topology of a chiral crystal.