Application of SR to Various Scientific and Technological Fields

• Life Science: Atomic structure analysis of protein macromolecules and elucidation of biological functions; Mechanism of time-dependent biological reactions; Dynamics of muscle fibers
• Materials Science: Precise electron distribution in novel inorganic crystals; Structural phase transition at high pressure / high or low temperature; Atomic and electronic structure of advanced materials of high Tc superconductors, highly correlated electron systems and magnetic substances; Local atomic structure of amorphous solids, liquids and melts
• Chemical Science: Dynamic behaviors of catalytic reactions; X-ray photochemical process at surface; Atomic and molecular spectroscopy; Analysis of ultra-trace elements and their chemical states; Archeological studies
• Earth and Planetary Science: In situ X-ray observation of phase transformation of earth materials at high pressure and high temperature; Mechanism of earthquakes; Structure of meteorites and interplanetary dusts
• Environmental Science: Analysis of toxic heavy atoms contained in bio-materials; Development of novel catalysts for purifying pollutants in exhaust gases; Development of high quality batteries and hydrogen storage alloys
• Industrial Application: Characterization of microelectronic devices and nanometer-scale quantum devices; Analysis of chemical composition and chemical state of trace elements; X-ray imaging of materials; Residual stress analysis of industrial products; Pharmaceutical drug design
• Medical Application: Application of high spatial resolution imaging techniques to medical diagnosis of cancers and capillaries

Research Methods Used in the SR Science

Research methods and typical examples of research subjects are summarized as follows:

X-ray Diffraction and Scattering

• Macromolecular crystallography: Atomic structure and function of proteins; Mechanism of time-dependent biological reactions
• X-ray diffraction under extreme conditions: Structural phase transition at high pressure / high or low temperature
• X-ray powder diffraction: Precise electron distribution in inorganic crystals; Phase transition
• Surface diffraction: Atomic structure of surfaces and interfaces; Phase transition, melting, roughening, morphology and catalytic reactions on surfaces
• Standing wave method: Geometrical structure of surface or interface atoms
• Small angle scattering: Shape of protein molecules and biopolymers; Dynamics of muscle fibers
• Medium angle scattering: Local atomic structure of amorphous solids, Iiquids and melts
• X-ray magnetic scattering: Magnetic structure; Bulk and surface magnetic properties
• X-ray diffuse scattering: Fluctuation of order or non-periodic disorder in crystalline solids
• Residual stress analysis: Three-dimensional strain mapping in bulk materials; Depth strain profiling
• Nuclear resonant scattering/Nuclear excitation: Time-domain Mossbauer spectroscopy; Nuclear inelastic scattering; Nuclear excitation by electronic transition
• X-ray Optics: X-ray interferometry; Coherent X-ray optics; X-ray quantum optics

Spectroscopy and Spectrochemical Analysis

• Photoelectron spectroscopy: Electronic structure of advanced materials such as high Tc superconductors, magnetic substances, and highly correlated electron systems
• Atomic and molecular spectroscopy: Photoionization spectra, photoabsorption spectra and photoelectron spectra of neutral atoms and simple molecules; Spectra of multicharged ions
• Compton scattering/Compton magnetic scattering: Momentum distribution of electrons in materials and magnetic electrons in ferromagnetic materials

• X-ray inelastic scattering: Electronic excitation; Electron correlations in the ground state; Phonon excitation

• X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy: Ultra-trace element analysis; Chemical states of trace elements; Archeological and geological studies
• XAFS (X-ray absorption fine structure)/X-ray absorption spectroscopy: Atomic structure and electronic state around a specific atom in amorphous materials, thin films, catalysts, metal proteins and liquids
• X-ray magnetic circular dichroism: Magnetic properties of solids, thin films and surfaces; Orbital and spin magnetic moments
• X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy: Speckle from disordered systems; Dynamics of atomic-scale disorder; Density fluctuation near a critical point
• Infrared spectroscopy: Infrared microspectroscopy; Infrared reflection and absorption spectroscopy

X-ray Imaging

• Refraction-contrast imaging: lmaging of low absorbing specimens
• Phase-contrast imaging: Imaging of biological samples with an X-ray interferometer
• X-ray microtomography: Three-dimensional imaging; X-ray fluorescence microtomography
• X-ray fluorescence microscopy: Imaging of trace elemental distribution with a scanning X-ray microprobe
• X-ray microscopy: Imaging of materials by magnifying with microfocusing elements
• X-ray topography: Static and dynamic processes of crystal growth, phase transition and plastic deformation in crystals; Crystal lattice imperfections
• X-ray holography: Direct three-dimensional atomic imaging around an X-ray fluorescing atom in crystalline materials
• Photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM): Element-specific surface morphology; Chemical reaction at surface; Magnetic domains

Radiation Effect

• Material processing: Solid phase crystallization; Soft X-ray CVD. Microfabrication
• Radiation biology: Radiation damage of biological substances

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