GEARING UP FOR THE NEXT USER RUN
Two years ago this month, we were transporting modules of the new Advanced Photon Source storage ring from our offsite warehouse to the tunnel, where they were assembled one by one and carefully aligned. At that time, the upgraded APS was still a work in progress. One year ago this month, we measured the electron beam emittance of the new machine (which had been operational for several months) and verified that we had become the brightest synchrotron X-ray light source in the world.
And now here we are, gearing up for the third and final user run of 2025. We spent almost all of August in a planned maintenance shutdown, continuing to improve the accelerator and adding additional capabilities on the experiment floor. We also spent it bringing our final feature beamlines at 33-ID and 34-ID closer to completion, which means the APS Upgrade Project is also close to the finish line. (In fact, our APS-U CD-4 director’s review providing important feedback for the closeout of the project was also held this month.)
It has been quite the journey, and it’s just beginning. As you can see at the bottom of this update, we now have 48 of our 72 beamlines accepting users for experiments, and another 13 right behind them, in technical commissioning. Most of those beamlines expect to start hosting their first experiments in the upcoming user run. Keep an eye on the APS website to track the beamline progress.
Meanwhile, here’s a look at the projected schedule for our last five feature beamlines:
ISN (19-ID) – We are commissioning instrumentation and optics for this beamline in the Long Beamline Building. We expect first experiments to start either late this year or early next year with general users following either late in the first run of 2026 or sometime in the second run.
CHEX (28-ID) – All four branches of CHEX received first light in July. We expect the beamline will be in technical commissioning for most of this upcoming user run, with first experiments occurring late this year or early 2026. We expect CHEX to be in the general user program late in the first run of 2026, or early in the second.
PtychoProbe (33-ID) – First light is expected in October of this year, and PtychoProbe will be in technical commissioning for the rest of 2025 and most of the first run of 2026. First experiments will likely happen late in that first run, or in the second run of the year, with general users expected mid-year.
3DMN (34-ID-E) – 3DMN is in technical commissioning, and we expect that will last to the end of the year. First experiments are expected to begin early in 2026, and the beamline should enter the general user program late in the first run of 2026 or sometime in the second run.
Atomic (34-ID-F) – We expect first light at Atomic in October of this year. The beamline will be in technical commissioning for the rest of the year and will likely host its first users late in the first run of 2026.
As always, keep the APS website bookmarked for the latest information. While you’re there, check out our latest profile piece on thermal engineering specialist Yifei Jaski, along with the rest of our People of the APS profile series, and stay tuned for more news and science highlights from the upgraded APS.
The next run begins on September 16. We hope to see some of you at the beamlines. Enjoy your last days of summer.
Until next time,
Jonathan Lang
Interim Deputy Associate Laboratory Director
for Science and Technology
Click on the image below for a larger version.
