Announcement of the Winners of the 14th Young Scientist Award

The 14th Young Scientist Award (YSA) is presented to a young researcher who has made a notable contribution through the development of a new experimental technique or a novel method of data analysis, or who has achieved remarkable results in their field of study by leveraging the unique capabilities of SPring-8, SACLA, or NanoTerasu.

Award Winner	Dr. Jumpei Yamada / The University of Osaka
Title of the Awarded Work	Extreme focusing of an X-ray free-electron laser using hard X-ray imaging optics
Citation for the Award	Dr. Jumpei Yamada has pursued extreme focusing of X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) and independently proposed and developed the Advanced Kirkpatrick−Baez type Ⅲ (AKB-Ⅲ) optical system, which is based on a Wolter type Ⅲ geometry combining an elliptical concave mirror and a hyperbolic convex mirror. Using this system at SACLA, he successfully achieved a minimum focal spot size of 7 × 7 nm and an unprecedented peak intensity of 1.45 × 1022 W/cm2. The AKB-Ⅲ mirror system satisfies Abbe’s sine condition through double reflection, which significantly suppresses coma aberration. Notably, it improved the tolerance to beam incidence angle errors by more than a factor of 1,000 compared to previous high-intensity focusing optics. This achievement enabled the realization of a highly stable and practical optical system for sub-10-nm XFEL focusing. Using this optical system, Dr. Yamada achieved not only the highest XFEL peak intensity ever recorded, but also rapid ionization of metallic chromium. Through observation of the Lyman series emission spectrum, he demonstrated the creation of a fully ionized state for the first time in the world―an exceptionally original and pioneering achievement.

Award Winner	Dr. Shotaro Hiraide / Kyoto University
Title of the Awarded Work	Kinetic Analysis of Adsorption-Induced Structural Transition in Flexible Metal-Organic Frameworks using Time-Resolved in situ X-Ray Diffraction Measurements
Citation for the Award	Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with structural flexibility are known to exhibit adsorption behavior accompanied by framework deformation-a phenomenon referred to as gate adsorption. Unlike conventional adsorption, where molecules diffuse through static pores, gate adsorption involves simultaneous structural transformation and molecular uptake. Dr. Hiraide focused on the structural transition rate of the gate-type adsorbent ELM-11, proposing that this rate can serve as a proxy for understanding adsorption kinetics. By bringing a custom gas-handling system to BL02B2 at SPring-8, they optimized both the CO2 supply rate and the time resolution of the detection system to perform time-resolved X-ray diffraction measurements under ideal conditions. Based on the resulting systematic data, they developed a method to analyze the structural transition rate and showed that it can be formulated as an autocatalytic reaction, incorporating the pressure difference relative to the gate pressure. This study not only provided a dynamic view of gate adsorption in terms of framework transformation kinetics, but also established a novel analytical approach that integrates time-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction with chemical engineering methodology. This approach holds strong potential for addressing real-world environmental challenges, such as revealing adsorption kinetics in CO2 separation and capture. Furthermore, the awardee has significantly contributed to the development of synchrotron radiation measurement technologies―particularly in time-resolved experiments using gas-handling systems and detectors such as MYTHEN-at widely used beamlines like BL02B2 and BL13XU. For these reasons, Dr. Hiraide is considered highly deserving of the 14th Young Scientist Award.