Premier Chuan Lin and Minister of Science and Technology Hung-Duen Yang visited National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) in Hsinchu on July 16th. They inspected the experimental facilities at the Taiwan Photon Source (TPS), which will open to general users soon in September. This will be the first new large-scale national science facility under President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration.
TPS is a large-scale national science facility supervised by Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), given leave for construction by Executive Yuan in 2007. This 3-GeV synchrotron light source with a circumference 518 meters and low emittance cost TWD 7 billion. It will provide brand-new techniques for state-of-the-art scientific research, which will further improve the product development and process optimization for industries.
Premier Lin expected that TPS can provide new opportunities for advanced research in biomedicine, green energy and intelligent machinery, which are among the five major innovative industries the government is prioritizing plans to promote.
The highly brilliant synchrotron X-ray source can be used to conduct protein crystallography research for the development of new drugs and vaccines. On the other hand, synchrotron light source can also be used to develop micro spectrometers that are beneficial for food and biomedical analysis.
In the aspect of advanced manufacturing process, TPS can provide new techniques for measuring. In the case of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), synchrotron light is used to analyze the materials and structures of chips. TSMC has been working closely with the NSRRC on related material analysis in the past few years. It is the major industrial user of the NSRRC synchrotron light source.
Minister Yang was once served as a board of trustees member and a supervisor of the NSRRC, and he used synchrotron light to facilitate his research in material science. As Minister Yang mentioned, synchrotron light is helpful in developing innovative energy-saving materials, such as li-ion batteries, fuel cells and solar cells.
The successfully and domestically designed, constructed, assembled, and commissioned TPS is a top-of-the-world synchrotron light source, and it proves that NSRRC owns world-leading techniques of constructing an advanced light source. At a friendly request of Synchrotron Light Research Institute from Thailand, NSRRC built in-achromat superconducting wigglers, key components of an accelerator, for the neighboring light source.
The government has been engaging in the long-term development of fundamental science, which is the base of strengthening scientific competitiveness for a nation and of fostering young talents. Furthermore, the combination of fundamental science and emerging industries will further boost industrial competitiveness and accelerate economic growth in the future.