Photon Factory

Light is what allows us to see things in our surroundings. However, human eyes are only sensitive to light with wavelengths of 400-700 nanometers. As a consequence, objects such as atoms and molecules whose size is smaller than these wavelengths cannot be visualized. By producing short wavelength (corresponding to high energy) ultraviolet light, and X-rays, the Photon Factory allows us to look into materials on an atomic scale.

The Photon Factory (PF) storage ring (2.5 GeV electrons), completed in 1982, was Japan’s first accelerator light source that could produce electromagnetic radiation right up to the high energy of X-rays. Since then, it has undergone several major upgrades to incorporate new technologies and to meet new scientific needs. The advanced ring (PF-AR 6.5 GeV electrons) is a unique, pulsed X-ray source that provides excellent time resolution. The Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) has been proposed as the next-generation light source, and will provide a coherent, short-pulsed, and bright light source for diverse and advanced uses. Every year, more than 3,000 users conduct experiments at the Photon Factory.

Research Areas

Materials Science

Short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation is an excellent probe for learning about the movements of electrons and atoms. Notably, it assisted in understanding the structure of materials with the giant magnetic resistance necessary for compact high capacity hard disks, as well as materials that display other unique phenomena such as high-temperature superconductivity. Radiation can also be used to gain the information necessary to design new materials.

Life Science

Life is a complex and elaborate system composed of multiple types of molecules. One of the most important types of molecules regulating life is called protein. Short-wavelength radiation, such as that provided by KEK's Photon Factory, can produce images of the molecular structure of proteins, which can then help increase our understanding of how proteins function. Such studies have useful applications in many fields, including drug design.

Earth, Planetary, and Environmental Sciences

The temperature at the Earth’s core reaches 6,000 degrees Celsius while the pressure reaches 3.6 million atm. On the Earth’s surface, such extreme conditions can be created only in very small volumes. In fact, laboratories can only create such conditions in a volume of microscopic dimensions. Very bright light sources are needed to look into such microscopic volumes. More generally, this type of extremely bright light source is also useful when analyzing any samples with a very small amount of material.