Advanced materials characterization using synchrotron radiation

Abstract

Fundamental research on the basic properties (structural, chemical, electrical, magnetic, optical, etc.) of materials has led to many breakthroughs in technology development. Systematic and rigorous investigations are required to properly characterize condensed matter systems due to (i) the various competing energy terms and degrees of freedom existing in the system, and (ii) many advanced materials exhibit strong coupling between a material’s electrons with other electrons, magnetism, or the material lattice itself. In addition, the ability to measure and manipulate matter at the nanoscale has gained significance particularly owing to the recent progress in nanomaterials and nanodevices. In this sense, synchrotron radiation-based x-ray techniques are ideal tools which allow for nondestructive probing of materials characteristics. The high brilliance, highly polarized, highly collimated, pulsed, and wavelength tunable electromagnetic radiation produced from synchrotron light sources enables examining atomic and electronic structures of matter with high sensitivity. In Korea, the nation’s first synchrotron facility, the Pohang Light Source (PLS), has been providing user service since 1995, while an x-ray free electron laser (FEL) facility, PAL-XFEL, has been operating since 2017 (Fig. 1). The facilities have been instrumental in achieving breakthroughs in fundamental scientific research and technological development. In order to meet the everincreasing user demands, there are specific plans to build a 4th generation light source with a diffraction-limited storage ring at Cheongju, Korea, aiming to be operational by 2028.