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The double-station beamline ID10 for soft interfaces and coherent scattering operated with full capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and numerous user experiments fully exploited the exceptional properties of the EBS. In addition to the articles in this chapter, an outstanding example is the XPCS study of the cage dynamics in dense eye lens protein suspensions [4]. The surface scattering station benefits from improvements of the main instrument, and the increased space for the sample environments now allows the installation of bulky equipment. The Q range for X-ray reflectivity on liquid surfaces using the double-crystal deflector was significantly extended from 2.4 Å-1 to 7 Å-1 [5]. A technique to measure reflectivity on spherically curved surfaces was also developed [6]. The coherence scattering station (ID10CS) has also seen several developments. An important extension of the focusing options for smaller coherent beams is currently underway. The setup for wide- angle XPCS with the CdTe Eiger2 4M detector has also been improved, with a new evacuated X-ray flight path and new linear translation stages that double the range in scattering angles. The user-friendliness of the beamline control and data analysis tools are also being improved. Finally, the synergy with the future long beamline, EBSL1, is promoting new developments, such as a fast detector prototype successfully tested for XPCS, making the future of ID10CS as exciting as the EBS.
The new EBS storage ring makes it possible to reach close to 10% of so-called coherent-flux , bringing the ESRF light closer to having laser-like properties. As part of the upgrade, a long beamline (EBSL1) devoted to the use of coherent X-rays will be constructed. It will be located at the ID18 port and is expected to open for users in 2025. In 2022, the technical design report was finalised, reviewed by external experts and approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee. Excavation (volume: 12 000 m3, weight: 24 000 T) and compaction were completed in summer 2022, and construction of the external building should start in early 2023. In parallel, the main optical components are being designed.
2022 marked the tenth year since the signature of the Partnership for Soft Condensed Matter (PSCM) agreement between the founding partners ESRF and ILL, and the sixth year of fully joint ESRF-ILL operation of the PSCM laboratories within the Science Building. The PSCM has so far received 20 applications for collaborative partner organisation status, 11 of which were successful, leading to the signatures of three-year, science-driven collaboration agreements with nine different European institutes. The systems investigated by these partnership programmes include soft biomaterials, out-of-equilibrium colloidal systems, interfacial dispersions, novel liquid crystals and nano-composite, hybrid and functional materials. So far, the PSCM has supported 800+ ESRF/ILL users on more than 30 beamlines, leading to over 300 PSCM-acknowledging publications. In addition, more than 100 ESRF/ILL staff members were granted permanent PSCM access to exploit 30+ instruments to develop their in-house research projects. At the ESRF, the beamtime proposal types that request PSCM support more frequently are Soft Condensed Matter (44%), Material Science (13%), Life Sciences (11%) and Macromolecular X-ray crystallography (8%). The second joint ESRF-ILL review of PSCM operation was undertaken in spring 2022, leading to the recommendation of an additional five-year extension of the PSCM agreement.
O. KONOVALOV
REFERENCES
[1] L. Matthews & T. Narayanan, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 610, 359 (2022). [2] T. Zinn et al., New J. Phys. 24, 093007 (2022). [3] A. Shemesh et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 13, 9725 (2022). [4] Y. Chushkin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 238001 (2022). [5] O. Konovalov et al., https:/doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2210.12827 (2022). [6] O. Konovalov et al., J. Synchrotron Radiat. 29, 711 (2022).
