ESRF celebrates five years of the Extremely Brilliant Source

Opened to the international user community on 25 August 2020, following a major upgrade, ESRF-EBS has proven to be a game changer for science in Europe and beyond, enabling breakthroughs across a wide range of fields — from health and energy to materials research, environmental science, and cultural heritage. Its exceptional capabilities have empowered researchers to explore living matter and materials with a level of detail that was previously out of reach — helping to address some of our society’s most pressing challenges.

From whole organs to connectomics: advancing health research
In health research, the ESRF has pioneered a new X-ray imaging technique, Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography (HiP-CT). With the support of a dedicated beamline, it allows scientists to image whole human organs in 3D, down to the cellular level. This has already helped shed light on lung damage caused by COVID-19 and is opening new paths for cancer diagnostics and understanding complex diseases. Supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Human Organ Atlas project — led by ESRF and University College London — brings together over 50 research teams worldwide to build a global open-science atlas of healthy and diseased organs. More than 200 organs have been scanned, and nearly 200 open-access datasets are now available to researchers everywhere.

In connectomics, the ESRF hosts an ERC-funded project that has demonstrated a new approach to mapping neural circuits. Using X-ray nano-holotomography (XNH), researchers have reconstructed the networks controlling wing and leg movements in fruit flies. This technique, hundreds of times faster than traditional imaging methods, opens the door to large-scale mapping of brain connectivity. Future applications could include a full human connectome, especially when combined with other methods. A new nano-imaging beamline at ESRF’s ID18 is planned to accelerate this work and deepen our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. 

Supporting innovation and sustainability in energy, materials, and the environment
Other major research areas enabled by the exceptional performance of EBS include the development of new materials for sustainable energy and the circular economy. The ability to observe processes under in situ and operando conditions, from the atomic scale to full devices, is made possible by the highly penetrating nature of EBS X-rays. Through the European Battery Hub, the ESRF is enhancing collaboration with industry to support the development of safer, longer-lasting, and more sustainable battery technologies. In collaboration with BASF, a high-throughput X-ray screening service has been developed, capable of analysing over 3,000 cathode samples per hour. This significantly accelerates material screening, shortening development cycles and enabling faster innovation in battery design, all while leveraging the extraordinary volume of data collected using AI-based tools.

From a more fundamental perspective, the availability of nanometric, high-energy X-ray beams is opening new frontiers in geosciences and planetary science. These capabilities allow scientists to investigate materials under static pressures of several gigapascals — conditions found deep inside gas giant planets like Jupiter and Neptune, as well as in exoplanets. One ERC-funded project is using these capabilities to better understand Earth’s core by simultaneously probing the velocity and propagation of seismic waves through iron-rich materials under extreme conditions. 

In environmental science, ESRF-EBS is helping researchers understand how toxic elements such as cadmium behave in soil and plants. With EBS beam performances and the use of a new X-ray microscope, researchers can now map the distribution of cadmium and other elements with unprecedented resolution, and up to 20 times faster than before. This combination of speed and detail enables them to observe both the bigger picture and the finest-scale processes at the plant–soil interface, where crucial interactions take place. This knowledge is vital for improving food safety and soil remediation strategies.

Shedding light on the past: cultural heritage and palaeontology
In cultural heritage, ESRF-EBS recently welcomed one of the world’s most iconic instruments: Il Cannone, the 1743 violin famously played by Niccolò Paganini. Conservators and scientists joined forces to perform a non-invasive, high-resolution scan of the instrument, down to the cellular structure of the wood’s components. Such analysis sheds light on the craftsmanship, material ageing, and acoustic properties of historical instruments, guiding their conservation.

In paleontology, the same imaging techniques were used to scan the tiny fossilised skull of a 247-million-year-old reptile embedded in a rock, leading to the discovery of a new species and changing our understanding of reptile evolution.

A cutting-edge facility in high demand
Scientific results are already delivering on the promise of ESRF-EBS, opening new frontiers for knowledge. Demand from the research community is stronger than ever, with a record number of beamtime proposals and 10 ERC-funded projects based on EBS capabilities. In 2024, the ESRF produced 1,407 peer-reviewed publications — nearly 400 more than in previous years such as 2021 and 2022 — with a marked increase in articles published in high-impact journals. Each year, around 10,000 scientists carry out experiments across 46 beamlines. 

Achieving this milestone required an unprecedented scientific and engineering effort. In December 2018, after 26 years of loyal service, the ESRF shut down its original storage ring for 20 months. Teams took three months to dismantle the ESRF’s historic storage ring (disconnecting 200 km of cables and removing 1720 tons of equipment) and nine months to install the new machine in the 844 m-circumference tunnel. More than 10,000 components were aligned to within 50 microns — less than the width of a human hair — over nearly a kilometer. The first X-ray beam was delivered in January 2020, and the facility reopened to users on 25 August 2020, on schedule.

A game-changer for science
As the ESRF celebrates five years of EBS, it stands as a game-changer for European science, advancing fundamental knowledge and contributing to tackling urgent challenges in health, energy and the environment.

“The EBS has already enabled amazing breakthroughs in a number of scientific areas, advancing knowledge and contributing to solving major challenges our societies are facing,” says Jean Daillant, ESRF Director General. “This is, however, just the beginning of the story. Beyond this extraordinary achievement, the ESRF is strongly committed to fully unleash its potential by developing innovative hardware and software, already looking ahead to new horizons and preparing for the next generation of synchrotrons.”