Planning a New Era of Discovery with the Upgraded Advanced Light Source

The Advanced Light Source (ALS), a Department of Energy user facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has operated since 1993 as a leading synchrotron for soft X-ray science. After 30 years, the facility is being upgraded to address performance limits, with completion targeted for 2029. The upgrade will increase the brightness of soft X-ray beams by at least 100 times, improving scientists' ability to analyze chemical, magnetic, and electronic properties of materials in real time.

The upgraded ALS will rival or surpass the most advanced global light sources, supporting research in quantum computing, microelectronics, and energy technologies. For quantum computing, the facility will enable deeper examination of qubit materials, while in microelectronics, it will advance extreme ultraviolet lithography techniques developed at Berkeley Lab’s Center for X-Ray Optics. The increased resolution will also aid energy storage research by revealing detailed reactions in batteries and catalysts.

Biological research at the ALS will benefit from new hardware and software for X-ray crystallography and small-angle X-ray scattering, alongside a dedicated crystallography sample production facility. These tools will help scientists study molecular interactions, disease mechanisms, and drug development more efficiently. The improved data quality will also support AI-driven research, reducing experimental trials and accelerating discovery.

Berkeley Lab, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy, operates the ALS as part of its broader mission in discovery science. The lab’s facilities, including the ALS, support research across materials, chemistry, physics, and biology, contributing to advancements in energy, technology, and public health.