The Advanced Photon Source

The Advanced Photon Source provides a steady stream of high energy photons, in the form of X-rays. In addition to the high energy of the beams, they also have a high level of coherency, about 25%, giving this beam many of the characteristics of an X-ray laser. As with many useful discoveries, the one which made the design of this device possible was made by accident. In the many electron accelerators, around the country, it was discovered that whatever part of the electron stream happened to be passing through any of the accelerator magnets, tended to wiggle. these wiggles gave off a shower of X-rays. This was a sort of a side effect of electron accelerators; but at Argonne, this accelerator was deigned to enhance this effect.

	Above: This view of the Advanced Photon Source does not even show the source itself. The accelerator ring, from which the high energy X-rays are produced, is off behind this building. The building serves as a control area, welcome center, and office space.  Below: A view of a portion of the accelerator ring, from the one of the back windows of the building shown above.
	Left: A view of some of the stations, and magnets, which throw off the beam. Below: A part of the visitor center.
	Left: This is the observation area. From here, the visitor can look down onto the floor of the work area. The floor of the APS is stringently temperature, and humidity controlled. It also rests upon a single two foot thick pour of heavily reinforced concrete. Below: There are a number of little shacks, like the one below, out in the work area. These house the target areas of the X-ray beam. There is one of these stations off of every accelerator magnet.
	Above: Researchers at one of the control, and instrumentation stations. Left: A look towards the main beam tube of the accelerator. The APS has two types of beam tubes. The main beam tube is the one that continuously accelerates a stream of electrons. Off of this main tube run a number of other tubes, which act as beam tubes for the X-ray beam