Speaker
Description
The new generation of synchrotron sources represents far more than an incremental upgrade of existing facilities: it fundamentally redefines the science that can be undertaken. Drawing on the experience of the Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) at the ESRF, this talk will show how a decisive advance in coherence, stability and speed marks a transition from signal-limited science, in which observation was constrained by what could be detected, to physics-limited science, in which it becomes possible to observe what actually exists. The combination of substantially brighter and more coherent beams, nanometre-scale stability and considerably faster detectors has rendered routine a range of experiments that were previously inaccessible. This shift will be illustrated through several new experimental regimes. Materials can now be examined grain by grain, following in real time how they deform, grow and fail under realistic conditions. Whole human organs can be imaged at cellular resolution, placing disease in a complete three-dimensional context. Chemical processes can be observed in motion, capturing what genuinely occurs within batteries, electrolysers and catalysts while in operation. Finally, extremely weak signals can be made visible, giving access to subtle effects in living tissue and in quantum materials that were hitherto too faint or too complex to measure. Rather than focusing on a single technique, the talk will offer a broad perspective on how these advances connect fundamental understanding with real-world applications. It will conclude by looking ahead to the ESRF Long-Term Scientific Plan 2026–2035, which builds on the EBS investment through a phased evolution of the accelerator, the beamline instrumentation and the digital infrastructure, and by considering what this means beyond the ESRF, as a blueprint for the next generation of light sources and for the opportunities they open for science and innovation across Europe.