MRI: Development of a Shared Mobile Merged-Beams Photoionization Endstation at the University of Montana

合并束光电离仪器将联合收割机的离子束和光子束结合起来，研究光和物质的相互作用。它们是在原子尺度上研究这种相互作用的最有效的科学工具之一-使我们能够以无与伦比的细节窥视原子内部。几十年来，美国在合并束科学方面一直领先于世界，但最近劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室的国家首要仪器退役，使美国在这一关键研究基础设施领域落后于德国、法国和日本。该计划旨在通过生产下一代合并光束仪器来恢复美国的全球领导地位，该仪器能够在非常广泛的能量范围内研究光-物质相互作用，这种能力是其他同类仪器无法比拟的。这种新的能力将用于为无数研究领域提供关键数据，从清洁能源生产到恒星天体物理学，再到生命起源的研究。这台仪器也将成为蒙大拿大学系统同类研究中最重要的工具，并将在教育和培训一代又一代的学生科学家方面发挥关键作用，否则他们就无法获得先进的科学研究和仪器。我们收集的关于宇宙的大多数信息都是通过与离子相互作用的光子传递给我们的。我们解码这些信息的能力是基于我们对这些相互作用的理解，而这种理解在很大程度上取决于我们在实验室中研究光离子相互作用的能力。在少数能够进行这种测量的仪器中，同步加速器设施中的合并束仪器由于几个众所周知的原因而特别强大，包括具有高能量分辨率的精确可调能量，高信号输出以及确定绝对光电离截面的能力。 然而，传统的合并光束仪器的尺寸和复杂性使得它们必须永久安装在单个专用光束线上，这极大地限制了它们可以探索的能量。有了这个奖项，提议者将把合并束装置组装成一个新颖的“卷起”终端站，可以运输到任何同步加速器并在那里使用。这种灵活性将使它能够部署在许多同步加速器光束线上，这些光束线共同产生跨越电磁频谱的光子。这种能量适应性将大大增加受益于该仪器的程序的数量和种类，因为它将能够进行从远红外到硬X射线的测量。这一发展代表了美国合并束科学和实验室天体物理学的变革性扩展，这将是现在和未来社区的重要资源。该项目由MPS/AST，刺激竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR），OD/OIA MRI分配给AST和物理学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Merged-beams photoionization instruments combine beams of ions and photons to study the interaction of light and matter. They are one of science’s most effective tools for studying such interactions on an atomic scale – allowing us to peer inside atoms with unparalleled detail. For decades the United States has led the world in merged-beams science, but the recent decommissioning of our nation's premier instrument at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has dropped the US behind Germany, France, and Japan in this critical area of research infrastructure. This program intends to restore the United States to global leadership by producing a next-generation merged-beams instrument capable of studying light-matter interactions across an exceptionally broad energy range, a capability no other instrument of its kind can match. This novel capability will be used to provide critical data to innumerable research fields ranging from clean energy production to stellar astrophysics to studies into the origins of life. This instrument will also be the most significant research tool of its kind in the Montana University System and will play a critical role in the education and training of generations of student scientists who otherwise lack access to advanced scientific research and instrumentation.Most of the information we gather about our Universe is carried to us by photons that have interacted with ions. Our ability to decode this information is based on our understanding of these interactions, and this understanding depends largely on our ability to study photo-ion interactions in the laboratory. Of the few instruments capable of such measurements, merged-beams instruments at synchrotron facilities are particularly powerful for several well-known reasons, including precisely tunable energies with high energy resolution, high signal output, and the ability to determine absolute photoionization cross sections. However, the size and complexity of traditional merged-beams instruments necessitate their permanent installation on a single, dedicated beamline which dramatically restricts the energies they can explore. With this award, the proposers will miniaturize the merged-beams apparatus into a novel “roll-up” endstation that can be transported to and used at any synchrotron. This flexibility will allow it to be deployed on numerous synchrotron beamlines that collectively produce photons spanning the electromagnetic spectrum. This energy adaptability will dramatically increase the number and variety of programs that will benefit from the instrument as it will be capable of measurements from the far infrared to hard x-rays. This development represents a transformative expansion of merged-beams science and of laboratory astrophysics in the United States that will be a vital resource to the community now and well into the future.This project is jointly funded by MPS/AST, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and OD/OIA MRI allotments to AST and Physics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.