The Storage Ring: Illuminating Science

What is Diamond?

Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron, a type of particle accelerator. It works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to produce bright light that scientists can use to study anything from fossils to jet engines to viruses and vaccines.

The machine accelerates electrons to near light speeds so that they give off light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. These bright beams are then directed off into laboratories known as ‘beamlines’. Here, scientists use the light to study a vast range of subject matter, from new medicines and treatments for disease to innovative engineering and cutting-edge technology.

 

Why is the installation called The Storage Ring?

The electrons are accelerated up to very high speeds through a series of three particle accelerators: the linear accelerator, or linac, the booster synchrotron and the large storage ring.

The linac and the booster synchrotron both work to accelerate the electrons so that they are travelling at nearly the speed of light. Once they enter the storage ring, the electrons are moving so fast that they could travel around the entire world 7.5 times in a single second.

The storage ring is not a true circle, but a type of polygon called a pentacontagon, made of 50 straight sections angled together with 50 bending magnets. When the path of the electron beam is bent by Diamond’s powerful magnets, the electrons lose energy in the form of light. This light can then be channelled out of the storage ring and into the experimental stations, called beamlines.

 

What are the Beamlines?

The light from the synchrotron is shone into thirty-two laboratories called beamlines, it is here that scientists carry out their experiments. Each beamline contains three different sections; the optics hutch, where the light is filtered and focused; the experimental hutch, where the sample sits and the experiment is carried out; and the control cabin, where the scientists control the experiment. The beams of light are so strong that, in the case of Diamond’s X-ray beamlines, it is not safe to be in the same room whilst they are being fired at the sample.

 

How was this piece created?

This piece was inspired by Diamond and its pioneering work in multiple fields and industries. The piece started with online research, followed by an ‘illuminating’ visit to Diamond where we were privileged to view the synchrotron and talk to some of the scientists about their incredible and varied research. Further creative development took place, looking into the history of the facility – how and why it was created and where it sits within the future of scientific research in the UK. 

This process crystallised into the artwork you see today – showing the domain of the scientist as they work on ground-breaking research into meteorites and medications; planets and proteins; construction and conservation. As you enter the artwork, you become part of Diamond’s story – its past, its present and its future…