About Us

The ESRF - The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility - is the most intense source of synchrotron-generated light, producing X-rays 100 billion times brighter than the X-rays used in hospitals. These X-rays, endowed with exceptional properties, are produced at the ESRF by the high energy electrons that race around the storage ring, a circular tunnel measuring 844 metres in circumference.
Each year, more than 9000 scientists from around the world come to Grenoble, to “beamlines”, each equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

From making history in 1988 as the world's first third-generation synchrotron, to launching the first of a new generation of high-energy light source in 2020, the force of the ESRF is its capacity to innovate, pushing technology to its limits and seeking ever-higher performances in order to provide scientists with state-of-the-art instruments. ESRF-Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) improves X-ray performances of brilliance and coherence by a factor of 100 compared to the previous source. Based on an award-winning lattice design, ESRF-EBS paves the way for a new standard of synchrotrons around the world.