Synchrotron light is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when charged particles, usually electrons, move at velocities close to the speed of light to generate a wide energy spectrum ranging from ultra-violet to short wavelength X-rays.

As the light is extremely intense and emitted in very short pulses of less than a nanosecond, it can be used in research work, especially for gathering crystallographic data for structural determinations.

"Researchers, especially those involved in biology, medicine, materials science or chemistry, can take advantage of synchrotron light to help them in advanced molecular-level study," said Weerapong Pairsuwan, director of the National Synchrotron Research Centre.

Established a decade ago, the centre under the Science Ministry is now the only place in Thailand that produces synchrotron light to support research work. The centre spent eight years to develop and implement Siam Photon Source, an electron accelerator that produces synchrotron light, and it officially opened to provide synchrotron light services to local researchers just two years ago.

Weerapong said synchrotron was an important tool for researchers to see and analyse, for example, the microstructure of living cells at the molecular level.

In physics and chemistry, synchrotron can be used to find the molecular properties of materials and this can lead to the development of new materials that will find practical applications. The radiation can also help analyse the amount and type of pollutants in the environment as it can detect even small amounts of substances and trace elements accurately.

For biological and medical science, synchrotron is an essential tool for researchers to study the microstructure of biological molecules such as protein, and the study can be used to develop new drugs or for the treatment of diseases.

In industry, synchrotron can be used to produce micron or sub-micron components with higher accuracy.

Weerapong said at this stage the centre's electron accelerator could produce synchrotron light with an energy measure of 10 kilo electron volts (kev). At this rate, the light, which is in a soft X-ray spectrum, can be used to study the basic and overall structure of materials and can be used for environmental purposes.

The director said the centre planned to upgrade its synchrotron light production capacity to offer 30 kev energy measures in the future. This would help research work and further molecular-level study that required higher energy measures of synchrotron radiation. The project is expected to be complete in the next two years.

Normally, energy measure is related to the efficiency of synchrotron light. A higher energy measure means the better resolution from the radiation will allow researchers to probe deeper into the details of each molecule.

Weerapong said the 30-kev synchrotron radiation, which was in the hard X-ray spectrum, could be used to analyse the microstructure of biological molecules of viruses and other disease sources in more detail, while it can also help generate a three-dimensional image of protein structure.

Synchrotron is an important infrastructure that facilitates more advanced research. The centre believes this service will be a key step to encourage local researchers to make new scientific discoveries.

The centre now offers synchrotron services to local researchers free of charge. It will also offer this service to the private sector at Bt50,000 per hour as a service charge, the same rate that is charged in other countries.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation

pongpen@nationgroup.com