Synchrotron-light For Experimental Science And Applications In The Middle East Research Articles

BEATS: BEAmline for synchrotron X-ray microTomography at SESAME.

The ID10 beamline of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) synchrotron light source in Jordan was inaugurated in June 2023 and is now open to scientific users. The beamline, which was designed and installed within the European Horizon 2020 project BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME (BEATS), provides full-field X-ray radiography and microtomography imaging with monochromatic or polychromatic X-rays up to photon energies of 100 keV. The photon source generated by a 2.9 T wavelength shifter with variable gap, and a double-multilayer monochromator system allow versatile application for experiments requiring either an X-ray beam with high intensity and flux, and/or a partially spatial coherent beam for phase-contrast applications. Sample manipulation and X-ray detection systems are designed to allow scanning samples with different size, weight and material, providing image voxel sizes from 13 µm down to 0.33 µm. A state-of-the-art computing infrastructure for data collection, three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction and data analysis allows the visualization and exploration of results online within a few seconds from the completion of a scan. Insights from 3D X-ray imaging are key to the investigation of specimens from archaeology and cultural heritage, biology and health sciences, materials science and engineering, earth, environmental sciences and more. Microtomography scans and preliminary results obtained at the beamline demonstrate that the new beamline ID10-BEATS expands significantly the range of scientific applications that can be targeted at SESAME.

Emergence of the first XAFS/XRF beamline in the Middle East: providing studies of elements and their atomic/electronic structure in pluridisciplinary research fields.

XAFS/XRF is a general-purpose absorption spectroscopy beamline at the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), Jordan. Herein, its optical layout is presented along with its powerful capabilities in collecting absorption and fluorescence spectra within a wide energy range (4.7-30 keV). The beamline is equipped with a conventional fixed-exit double-crystal monochromator that allows the collection of an X-ray absorption spectrum within a few minutes in step-by-step mode. An on-the-fly scanning mode will be implemented shortly where the acquisition time will be reduced to less than a minute per scan. The full automation of the beamline allows performing successive measurements under different conditions. The different experimental setups and special features available to users are reported. Examples of XRF and XAFS measurements are presented, showing the performance of the beamline under different standard conditions.

Operational status of the X-ray powder diffraction beamline at the SESAME synchrotron.

The Materials Science (MS) beamline at SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East), dedicated to the X-ray powder diffraction technique, started its operational phase in December 2020 by hosting its first users. The MS endstation comprises a two-circle diffractometer coupled with a PILATUS 300K area detector, with which direct beam images are collected and compared with the initial ray-tracing simulation results. We present a detailed description of the beamline components and the experimental characterization of the main instrumental parameters relying on the instrumental profile and the angular resolution. A representative example for microstructure investigations of a nanocrystalline material is demonstrated.

The first infrared beamline at the Middle East SESAME synchrotron facility

SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in theMiddle East) is the only synchrotron light facility in the Middle East and neighboring regions, officially opened in 2017. Among the identification and construction of the first operational beamlines, infrared spectromicroscopy was selected as one of the two beamlines to be opened to the general users' program (the so-called Day-1 beamlines). Being one of the most demanded techniques by various scientific communities in the Middle East, the beamline has been designed and implemented in the framework of a collaboration agreement with the French synchrotron facility, SOLEIL. The design, construction and initial performances of the IR beamline (D02-IR), nowadays operational, are reported.

SESAME – a synchrotron light source in the Middle East: an international research infrastructure in the making

SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is an international research centre located in Jordan. The centre was established in the late 1990s with the intention to foster scientific cooperation in a region of the world that has been torn by persistent conflicts. The project is built on the idea that science can help to overcome barriers and cultural differences within the common ground of science and research. SESAME’s core ambition is to operate an international state-of-the-art synchrotron users’ facility in the north of Amman that is accessible to scientists from all of its member countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Palestine, Turkey and Jordan. Accordingly, SESAME has been often praised as a paramount example of science diplomacy. Our intention for this report was to investigate a concrete international research infrastructure with a specific science diplomacy interest. What were the enabling conditions for such a project to come into being and what keeps SESAME running? What were the challenges and obstacles? How does the composition of member states play into that? How is SESAME related to (and embedded in) the global synchrotron community, academia, researchers and political actors in the region and the world? Did the science diplomacy ambition behind the project turn out to be successful and how does it affect SESAME's future?

AAAS annual meeting demonstrates the critical value of global scientific collaboration

AAAS annual meeting demonstrates the critical value of global scientific collaboration

Social Work Field Training for the Community: A Student Self-Directed Approach in the Environmental Domain in Jordan.

This article outlines innovative field training methods that foster the abilities of undergraduate social work students so that they are able to empower the local community and raise awareness of environmental issues. In this study, students were engaged in a local community assessment that sought to understand their views on environmental and community impacts of the Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) Project on the lives of the host village's residents. A students' self-directed approach was applied for the fieldwork out of which interventions were developed ( Garrison, 1997). Quantitative data were gathered by eighteen students through a survey of 361 questionnaires targeting Allan society. In addition to students' field notes, pre and post focus groups were used to collect qualitative information. Study findings highlighted the effectiveness of students' self-directed projects in cultivating culturally competent practices; ensuring sustainable development; and providing evidence-based knowledge on social work practice involving environmental issues.

Simulation and design of an infrared beamline for SESAME (Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East)

The infrared synchrotron radiation emitted from an edge and constant field radiation of a bending magnet, at the third generation storage ring SESAME, which is in construction, is studied in detail by the “Synchrotron Radiation Workshop” (SRW) computer code and ray-tracing techniques. Constant magnetic field and edge infrared emissions are taken into account in the project of the bending vacuum chamber. Emission angles of 15×39mrad2 (vertical×horizontal) have been considered giving a photon flux in the 1013photons/sec/0.1%bw range. The beamline design is presented, with details of the first extraction mirror, its heat load and operating procedure. The beamline has been designed to produce a dual beam in the experimental floor, which enables serving in the future, two independent instruments.

The Middle East's first synchrotron is in peril

Three years ago, Amor Nadji and three young engineers piled into a van in Amman, Jordan, and drove 30 kilometers northeast to the city of Zarqa. The engineers' mission was to salvage the then-25-year-old particle accelerator and turn it into a first-rate machine. This supermicroscope, called SESAME (for Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) would enable scientists from Jordan and nearby countries to investigate the atomic structure of different materials. The engineers' hope was that SESAME would revitalize Middle Eastern science and encourage friendly encounters between otherwise factious neighbors. This article presents the redevelopment of Middle East's first synchrotron.

Using nuclear accelerator technology to make intense X-rays

Electron accelerators, originally developed for nuclear and high energy physics research, have become by far the most intense infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray sources in the world. The increase in availability of these sources (there are now about 60 in operation around the world) has had a revolutionary effect on many branches of basic and applied research resulting in a major impact on science and society in developing countries as well as in technologically well-developed countries. Synchrotron radiation facilities in developing countries have produced hundreds of PhD students who did not have to leave their country, and they have attracted dozens of mid-career scientists to return to their country of origin, where they can continue to perform frontier research. In addition, scientists in these developing countries are able to use intense synchrotron radiation to address local environmental and biomedical issues and concerns. This paper presents: 1) a brief historical account of the development of synchrotron radiation sources from the first to the fourth generation; 2) a summary of the properties of synchrotron radiation; 3) an overview of synchrotron radiation facilities in developing countries; 4) a description of the UNESCO-sponsored Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) project which is constructing a regional, international third-generation synchrotron radiation research centre in the Middle East in close analogy to CERN.

Meeting Reports: Third SESAME Users Meeting

SESAME (Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, www.sesame.org.jo) is being built in Jordan under the umbrella of UNESCO as an international synchrotron radiation source. Scientists from the members (Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain, Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority) and observer countries (Iran, France, Germany, Greece, Kuwait, Russia, USA, UK) have been meeting annually since 2002 with the aim of presenting their work in the field, discussing the latest developments in the project and spreading the word about SESAME and strengthening contacts in the SESAME users' community. The first Users Meeting was held in Amman, Jordan, in 2002 with the generous help of the Japanese Society for Physical Sciences.

The Middle East Synchrotron Facility can bring Regional Cooperation

AbstractOver three years ago, Germany decided to gift the BESSY‐I, a 800MeV synchrotron, fully functioning since 1982 in Berlin, to the region of Middle East. The Middle East Synchrotron better known by the acronym SESAME (Synchrotron‐light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) will be the upgraded reincarnation of BESSY‐I. SESAME, the first synchrotron in the Middle East, is envisioned as a seed for a regional international research center, open to scientists in the region and beyond. The founders of the SESAME Project see a facility similar in purpose to the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva, which brought together numerous scientists from countries that had fought each other during the two World Wars. Scientific collaboration beyond the national boundaries has been a force for peace in the cold war. An account of events leading to these very significant developments is presented.

SESAME: an extended spectral range synchrotron radiation facility in the Middle East based on an upgrade to BESSY I

The SESAME ( Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) project is described.