1. ALS SHINES IN DIRECTOR'S REVIEW
by Annette Greiner

A recent Berkeley Lab divisional review of the ALS has shown the extraordinary development of the facility in the past two years. The Laboratory Director's Review, held on June 10-11, was the first review to assess the ALS as a full division. In its July 16 report, the committee called the ALS a "vibrant and productive facility" and stated that "the performance of the ALS has confirmed the best hopes that one had for a third-generation source of VUV and soft x-ray radiation." Noting significant improvements in scientific development, management, and communications with users, the reviewers gave the ALS an overall rating in all categories of excellent/outstanding. (Categories included management, scientific directions, operations, and user support.) The committee also gave an outstanding rating to ALS accelerator operations and development. The high marks came despite the fact that "the committee decided at the outset that it could serve [the ALS] best by being as critical as possible."

The committee's report lauded the recent and planned upgrades to the facility, the skillful leadership of ALS Director Daniel Chemla, and the "high quality of science programs conducted by its users." Committee members highlighted four research areas as particularly promising for development of world leadership: atom-specific x-ray microscopy (imaging), high-resolution spectroscopy (particularly angle-resolved photoemission), speckle spectroscopy, and femtosecond time-resolved experiments. Other scientific programs that the committee found particularly impressive included work with high-temperature superconductors, photoemission imaging of magnetic heterostructures, magnetic imaging for the magnetic data storage industry, studies in multi-atom resonant photoemission, and protein crystallography.

The Director's Review committee also recommended that the ALS request another BESAC review in the near future. To that end, Director Chemla traveled to Washington on August 10 to make an hour-long presentation before BESAC. The session went very well, and the committee responded positively. BESAC has recommended that a new review be conducted in the coming winter.

2. INTERNATIONAL X-RAY MICROSCOPY CONFERENCE (XRM99)
by Art Robinson
(Contact: T_Warwick@lbl.gov)

More than 180 participants from around the world crowded the Clark Kerr Campus of the University of California, Berkeley, from August 1-6, 1999, for the Sixth International Conference on X-Ray Microscopy (XRM99). Held every three years since 1983, the XRM conference has become the primary international forum for the presentation and discussion of advances in high-spatial-resolution x-ray imaging and applications (including the use of x-ray spectroscopic and analytical techniques) in biological and medical sciences, environmental and soil sciences, and materials and surface sciences. Berkeley Lab's Center for X-Ray Optics (CXRO) and the ALS jointly hosted this year's meeting. As the host member of the International Program Committee, David Attwood (CXRO) chaired the meeting, while Tony Warwick (ALS) oversaw the local arrangements.

Over the years, the content of the XRM conferences has broadened beyond soft x-ray transmission techniques based on absorption contrast. XRM99 saw as many presentations on applications as on techniques. Polymers, magnetic materials, and the earth and soil sciences, along with the traditional biological sciences, were major application areas. In addition, reports of experiments at multi-keV photon energies (intermediate and hard x rays), phase-contrast imaging, tomography, and photoelectron microscopes were numerous. Spectromicroscopy had already joined x-ray microscopy as the XRM organizing theme at the previous meeting. Among other advances, high-power lasers to drive compact laser-plasma x-ray sources offered a lower-cost alternative to synchrotron-radiation facilities, and novel refractive and waveguide devices were demonstrated to supplement the well-established Fresnel zone-plate and multilayer-coated mirror optics.

The conference was dedicated to the memory of CXRO's Werner Meyer-Ilse, who as a member of the International Program Committee was largely responsible for the extensive program of 52 oral and 122 poster presentations but died on July 14 (see ALSNews Vol. 132, July 21, 1999) before he could see the fruits of his labor. To honor Werner, the Committee has established a memorial award to be given at each XRM conference to the young scientist (Ph.D. since the last conference or in progress) presenting the most outstanding paper.

3. FINAL CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 1999 ALS USERS' MEETING
(Contact: alsabstract@lbl.gov)

The ALS Users' Executive Committee (UEC) invites ALS users, including students and postdocs, to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentations at the annual Users' Meeting, to be held at Berkeley Lab on October 18-20, 1999. Highlight oral presentations will be selected by the UEC from the abstracts received; other submissions will be presented as posters. The poster sessions will be held in conjunction with the vendor exhibits on Monday, October 18, 12:00-3:00 p.m., and Tuesday, October 19, 12:00-2:00 p.m.

Please submit a one-page abstract detailing research done at the ALS over the past year. On the bottom of the page, include the name, postal address, email address, phone number, and fax number of the primary author. Please write "student" if applicable and "poster only" if the submission is not to be considered for an oral presentation. [Note: The poster board size is 1.2 m (4 ft) square; push pins will be provided.]

Send abstracts by Friday, August 20, to

Ruth Pepe
Advanced Light Source, MS 6-2100
Berkeley Lab
Berkeley, CA 94720

Phone: (510) 486-5268
Fax: (510) 486-4773
Email: alsabstract@lbl.gov

4. MACROMOLECULAR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY BEAMTIME PROPOSALS DUE SEPTEMBER 15

The User Services Office is accepting proposals from scientists who wish to conduct research as independent investigators at the Macromolecular Crystallography Facility (Beamline 5.0) between January and June 2000. The deadline for submissions is September 15, 1999. There will be no automatic rollover of proposals from the previous proposal cycle (July to December 1999). Scientists wishing to renew a previous proposal should notify the ALS User Services Administrator, Ruth Pepe (contact information below).

The proposal form for independent investigators is available in Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Web http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/quickguide/independinvest.html). Information on the proposal process is available at the same location. A data sheet on the Macromolecular Crystallography Facility provides information that may be useful to prospective users. It is available on the Web as a PDF file at http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/als_users_bl/5.0-Datasheet.pdf. If you do not have Web access and would like to request a data sheet, send an email request to alsuser@lbl.gov. Beamline information is also available on the Web in HTML format at http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/als_users_bl/bl_table.html.

To request a proposal form by mail, contact
Ruth Pepe, ALS User Services Administrator
Tel: (510) 486-5268
Fax: (510) 486-4773
Email: alsuser@lbl.gov

For information on beamlines available to independent investigators, contact
Gary Krebs, ALS User Services Group Leader
Tel: (510) 486-7727
Fax: (510) 486-4102
Email: g_krebs@lbl.gov

5. ICESS8 TO BE HELD IN BERKELEY IN 2000
(Contact: icess@electron.lbl.gov)

The 8th International Conference on Electronic Spectroscopy and Structure (ICESS8) will be held at the Clark Kerr Campus of the University of California, Berkeley, on August 8-12, 2000. This meeting continues the International Conference on Electron Spectroscopy (ICES) series. It will deal with all aspects of electronic spectroscopy (photoelectron, Auger electron, electron energy loss, soft x-ray fluorescence, and soft x-ray absorption) as related to electronic structure and dynamics, as well as to atomic structure and dynamics, in gaseous and condensed phases. Topics will also include spectromicroscopy with incident photons and electrons, as well as applied surface and interface analysis. For more information about the meeting, contact C.S. Fadley, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mailstop 2-100, Berkeley, CA 94720, or L. Terminello, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-357, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA 94551, or send email to icess@lbl.gov.

6. UEC CORNER: NOTES FROM THE USERS' EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
by Stephen Kevan
(Contact: kevan@oregon.uoregon.edu)

The UEC was delighted to hear about the positive comments arising from the ALS Division Review held in June. The UEC played an important role in helping to plan and execute that review, and many users presented a variety of great results obtained at the ALS. The positive outcome from this review has provided a great boost to morale; this was a big step toward an eventual full recovery from the Birgeneau panel review two years ago.

A few other items in which the UEC is involved and for which ALSNews readers might be able to provide useful input:

(1) A committee is being formed to consider the appropriate allocation of ports on the superbends. These will be bright sources of intermediate-energy x rays and are much in demand by the protein crystallography community. The issue of balance with other communities will be considered. The UEC will have input to this committee, and I encourage users to provide any thoughts they might have either directly to the committee (chaired by Graham Fleming of the University of California and Berkeley Lab) or to a UEC member.

(2) The formal written report from the recent review of the ALS microscopy program is expected soon, and important decisions about resource allocation and the overall emphasis of this program will soon be made. The UEC will keep an eye on this process, and users should feel free to express their opinions to a UEC member.

(3) There will be a Strategic Planning Retreat on September 22 sponsored by ALS management. Several members of the UEC will attend. User input to these meetings is very important, since the discussion focuses on resource allocation in both the short and long terms. At the risk of sounding overly repetitive, please feel free to contact me or other UEC members if you have specific issues you would like to discuss in advance of this meeting.

(4) We now have tentative workshops planned for the Wednesday of the Users' Meeting (October 20). These include high-resolution spectroscopy, coherence and holography, femtosecond x rays, magnetic and polymer materials, and x-ray microscopy. It is not too late to organize other workshops, if sufficient interest exists.

(5) In the wake of the Birgeneau report, the size of the ALS Science Advisory Committee (SAC) has been increased. This growth, combined with normal roll-over of committee membership, has led to the UEC spending a significant amount of time discussing candidates to recommend for SAC membership. This process continues; four slots remain to be filled at present. The SAC is of crucial importance to the long-term success of the facility, since it reviews new proposals for building beamlines at the ALS and also reviews existing Participating Research Teams. If you have suggestions of candidates appropriate for SAC membership, please send them along to a UEC member or to ALS management.

7. RECENT PUBLICATIONS

A new book by David Attwood is due to ship from Cambridge University Press at the end of this month. The book is "Soft X-rays and Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation: Principles and Applications." Attwood, head of Berkeley Lab's Center for X-Ray Optics and the driving force behind several ALS beamlines, describes the fundamental properties of EUV and soft x-ray light. He discusses the physics of synchrotron, plasma, and laser sources and presents applications in fields as diverse as lithography, astronomy, and microscopy. Orders can be placed through Cambridge University Press, 110 Midland Avenue, Port Chester, NY 10573-4930; phone, 1-800-872-7423; fax, 914-937-4712, or on the Web at http://www.cup.org. The price for the 488-page volume is $59.95.

Journal Articles

Jarvis, G., Y. Song, and C.Y. Ng, "Rotational-resolved pulsed field ionization photoelectron study of NO+(a3sigma+,v+=0-16) in the energy range of 15.6-18.2. eV," J. Chem. Phys. 111, 1937-1946 (August 1999).

Jarvis, G., M.D. Evans, C. Ng, and K. Mitsuke, "Rotational-resolved pulsed field ionization photoelectron study of NO+(X1sigma+, v+ = 0-32) in the energy range of 9.24-16.80 eV," J. Chem. Phys. 111, 3058 (August 1999).

Magnuson, M., A. Nilsson, M. Weinelt, and N. Martensson, "Angular-dependent resonant-photoemission processes at the 2p thresholds in nickel metal," Phys. Rev. B 60, 2436-2440 (July 1999).

Song, Y., M.D. Evans, C.Y. Ng, C. Hsu, and G. Jarvis, "Rotationally resolved pulsed field ionization photoelectron bands of O2+(X 2pi 1/2,3/2g, v+=0-38) in the energy range of 12.5-18.15 eV," J. Chem. Phys. 111, 1905-1916 (August 1999).

Finkelstein, L.D., E.Z. Kurmaev, M.A. Korotin, A. Moewes, B. Schneider, S.M. Butorin, J.-H. Guo, J. Nordgren, D. Hartmann, and M. Neumann et al ., "Excitation energy dependence of x-ray fluorescence of TiO2 in band approach," Phys. Rev. B 60, 2212-2217 (July 1999).

Ohrwall, G., S. Sundin, P. Baltzer, and J.D. Bozek, "Inner-valence states of CO+: comparison of photoelectron and resonant auger spectra," J. Phys. B 32, 463-473 (July 1999).

Sorkhabi, O., Q. Fei, A.H. Rizvi, and A.G. Suits, "Ultraviolet photodissociation of furan probed by tunable synchrotron radiation," J. Chem. Phys. 111, 100-107 (July 1999).

8. WHO'S IN TOWN: A SAMPLING OF ALS USERS

To highlight the richness of our user community and help introduce recent arrivals, we offer this listing of some of the experimenters who will be collecting data during the next two weeks at the ALS.

Beamline 1.4.3: Miqin Zhang (Univ. of California, Berkeley, and Berkeley Lab) will study biocompatibility of microfabricated surfaces and medical devices using FTIR spectromicroscopy. Felicia Hendrickson and Robert Glaeser (Univ. of California, Berkeley) will continue their work on the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin microcrystals. Marni Goldman and Eduardo Saiz (Berkeley Lab) will study bioactivity of glass coatings on metallic implant alloys. Karl Neiman and Ron Simms (Utah State Univ.) will study pyrene degradation and bound residue formation in contaminated soil..

Beamline 7.0.1: Ivan Schuller (Univ. of California, San Diego) will conduct a spin-polarized photoemission study on the valence states of magnetite films, presumed half metallic magnets.

Beamline 7.3.1.1: Kannan Krishnan (Berkeley Lab) will make PEEM measurements of domain structures and spin reorientation transitions in c-axis-oriented cobalt films.

Beamline 8.0.1: Elke Arenholz (Berkeley Lab) will probe multi-atom resonant photoexcitation effects with x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Nobuyoshi Yamada (Univ. of Electro-Communications, Tokyo) will study the site-specific electronic structure of oxygen in PrBa2Cu3O7 and PrBa2Cu4O8.

Beamline 9.3.1: Yoshiaki Ito (Kyoto Univ.) will study resonant inelastic x-ray emission spectra in tungsten metal. Mark Legros, Daniel Rolles, Zahid Hussain, Steve Cramer, and Thomas Earnest (Berkeley Lab) and Norman Mannella and Chuck Fadley (Univ. of California, Davis, and Berkeley Lab) will be doing some first experiments at the ALS in x-ray fluorescence holography, which holds the promise of directly imaging atoms in three dimensions with sub-angstrom resolution.

Beamline 10.3.1: Kenneth Verosub (Univ. of California, Davis) will conduct compositional profiling of oceanic cores, with application to the Mare Island restoration project.

9. OPERATIONS UPDATE
(Contact: RMMiller@lbl.gov)

Beam reliability for user shifts was 94.2% for August 2-15. More than half the lost beamtime during this period (eight hours) was attributable to the recovery from a power outage affecting all of Berkeley Lab on August 7. This outage was the result of a severe voltage dip at a UC Berkeley campus substation, probably brought on by the final activities of a rat.

Long-term and weekly operations schedules are available on the Web (http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/accelinfo.html). Requests for special operations use of the "scrubbing" shift should be sent to Bob Miller (RMMiller@lbl.gov, x4738) by 1:00 p.m. Friday. The Accelerator Status Hotline at (510) 486-6766 (ext. 6766 from Lab phones) features a recorded message giving up-to-date information on the operational status of the accelerator.