Open AccessA Prospect and Retrospect – the Japanese Case
Author(s) -
Sasaki Taizo
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of synchrotron radiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 99
ISSN - 1600-5775
DOI - 10.1107/s0909049598003070
Subject(s) - synchrotron radiation , third generation , light source , storage ring , synchrotron , synchrotron light source , engineering physics , telecommunications , computer science , physics , optics , beam (structure)
The early through recent history of synchrotron radiation research in Japan, since the initial efforts in 1962, is reviewed. Following a period of parasitic use of an electron synchrotron, Japanese users attempted to build a storage ring as a dedicated soft X‐ray source, which was completed in 1974. It opened up a new era of second‐generation synchrotron radiation research. The Photon Factory, a dedicated X‐ray source commissioned in 1982, provided a much wider research area as well as a number of technical innovations, among which insertion devices brought the further prospect of significant improvements in the properties of sources. As a consequence, the new concept of a light source oriented towards full exploitation of insertion devices, or the idea of a third‐generation source, was created. The motivations and developments which led to Spring‐8, a third‐generation Japanese X‐ray source that is currently being commissioned, will be reviewed briefly.