The National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) is a non-profit research institute, funded by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in Taiwan. It is located in the Hsinchu Science Park, which is hailed as the “Silicon Valley of Taiwan,” home to many of the island’s largest IT and semiconductor companies. It is also advantageous to neighbor with two leading Taiwanese academic institutes, National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University.
A synchrotron facility is a ring-shape particle accelerator, also known as a synchrotron or a light source. Electron bunches travel at nearly the speed of light in a circular path to generate bright beams of light; the wavelength spectrum covers hard X-ray, soft X-ray, ultraviolet and infrared. With its ability to probe materials microscopically, synchrotron radiation has become an important tool for both fundamental and applied research covering a diverse range of subjects including physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, materials, chemical engineering, environment, energy, geology, archeology, micromechanics, electronics, nano devices, etc.
NSRRC, the biggest large-scale shared research facility in Taiwan, currently operates two accelerators, the Taiwan Light Source (TLS) and the Taiwan Photon Source (TPS). TLS, of beam energy 1.5 GeV and circumference 120 meters, is the first third-generation synchrotron light source facility in Asia and the third globally. It has opened to users since October, 1993. The best optimized energy range of synchrotron light from TLS is between vacuum ultraviolet light and soft X-rays. The TPS, of circumference 518.4 meters, is one of the brightest synchrotron light sources in the world. It began its operation in September, 2016. To meet the demands from modern technologies and pioneer sciences for higher-brightness light beams, such as biomedicine and nanoscience, it is equipped with a low-emittance synchrotron storage ring and booster synchrotron producing a beam of energy 3 GeV. It generates X-rays in the higher energy range from soft X-rays to hard X-rays, and has a capacity of more than 40 beamlines. In addition, NSRRC built and operates two hard X-ray Taiwanese beamlines at SPring-8, Japan, as well as a cold neutron triple-axis spectrometer at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), under the international collaboration agreements.
Scientists from around the world can access NSRRC’s facilities to explore the properties of materials in a wide range of disciplines through a competitive proposal process. Every year, over 2,000 users use NSRRC’s experimental facilities, which not only enable basic research, but also facilitate high-tech innovation. NSRRC possesses one of the most advanced synchrotron facilities in the world and its pioneering capabilities keep Taiwan at the forefront of scientific research.