SPring-8

SPring-8 (an acronym of Super Photon Ring – 8 GeV) is a synchrotron radiation facility located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan and run by the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute. The machine consists of a storage ring containing an 8 GeV electron beam. The beam is extracted and run through undulators to produce synchrotron radiation with energies ranging from soft X-rays (300 eV) up to hard X-rays (300 keV). The synchrotron radiation produced at SPring-8 is used for materials analysis and biochemical protein characterization by many Japanese manufacturers and universities.

Together with the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory in the United States and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, it is one of the three large (beam energy greater than 5 GeV) synchrotron radiation facilities in the world.

SPring-8 is open to visitors year round and tours can be arranged in advance by contacting the facility. It is accessible by train and bus from Kobe and Kyoto.