The Swiss Light Source

This week myself and a team of researchers from the University of Southampton have travelled to Switzerland to conduct some experiments at the Swiss Light Source (SLS). The SLS is part of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). It is the large round building in the picture below:

www.psi.ch

In the center of the SLS is a particle accelerator. Electrons are made to spin around a ring, getting faster and faster. When they reach a high enough speed they are released out of the different 'beamlines' and scientists use these released electrons of conduct experiments. 

The inside of the building looks like this: 

www.psi.ch

We are using one of the beamlines called TOMCAT to x-ray fungi and roots within soil samples. We use the electrons to create a super bright light that means we can image a soil sample in a few minutes.

You can find out more about the SLS at their website:
https://www.psi.ch/sls/
and the TOMCAT beamline:
https://www.psi.ch/sls/tomcat/tomcat