Synchrotron light or radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted by electrons when accelerated at relativistic speeds. At ALBA, we generate this type of light by accelerating electrons up to almost the speed of light (99,999%).

To know more about how we producte this light, check the Accelerators section. This synchrotron light arrives at the beamlines, where scientists bring the samples they want to analyse. When synchrotron light interacts with the sample, scientists obtain very precise and useful information, not available with other analytical tools.

The electron beam at ALBA has the size similar to a human hair (0.1 mm approx.). At ALBA II, the beam will be 10 times smaller.

The staff of ALBA is made of 250 people approximately, distributed in five divisions: Accelerators, Experiments, Engineering, Computing, Administration and four offices depending directly from the Director: Health & Safety, Industrial Office, Coordination Office and Communications & Outreach.

To know more about the job opportunities at ALBA, visit our Career section.

There are different synchrotron facilities around the world. Most of them are of 3rd generation (as ALBA it is now) or 4th generation. About 30 of them are similar to ALBA, being 11 of them in Europe. To know more about other synchrotron facilities, visit Lightsources.org.

Despite the CERN also is a particle accelerator, ALBA and CERN have different goals. ALBA is aimed at producing synchrotron light by accelerating electrons in its ring of 268 metres of perimeter. With ALBA's synchrotron light, scientists can study the molecular and stomic structure of matter. CERN has a ring of 27 km whose objective is to collide protons (not electrons) to study the very basics of particles, at subatomic level.

ALBA is generally used by the Spanish and European scientific communities: 65% Spanish institutions, 30% European institutions and 5% institutions from other countries.

Most of the users access to ALBA through the competitive call. However, industries and proprietary users do also access to ALBA's services. Up to now, more than 90 different companies have used ALBA's services.