April 17, 2006 Source: :
http://communications.uwo.ca/media_newsroom/story.html?listing_id=21198 First Research Papers from Canadian Light Source Published London, ON - The Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of
Saskatchewan recently marked an important science achievement with the
publication of the first research papers resulting from experiments performed at
Canada's national synchrotron facility. The research groups, whose papers appeared online the same day, are from the two
universities generally credited with leading the quest for a Canadian synchrotron: the
U of S and The University of Western Ontario. "This is an important milestone for the CLS," says Research Director Thomas Ellis.
"High quality science is always exciting. These two success stories in particular will
always have a special meaning for us." T.K. Sham, a Chemistry professor and Canada Research Chair at Western,
Western colleague Franziskus Heigl and Western graduate student Simone Lam
were using the CLS as a giant strobe light to study the behaviour of a chemical used
in organic light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The technique, called time-resolved X-ray Excited Optical Luminescence, required
that the synchrotron produce flashes of light spaced 10 millionths of a second apart.
This made it possible to excite the chemical's molecular structure and observe how it
changed between flashes. This kind of imaging is a first for the CLS, and has been
performed at only a couple of synchrotrons in the world. "This experiment took a lot of hard work and dedication by the scientists and
engineers at the CLS," says long-time synchrotron researcher Sham, who pioneered
the technique. "Not many places in the world can do this kind of experiment at
present. Now this [the CLS] is the place." The U of S paper, from the research group of Canada Research Chair Alex
Moewes, documents the work of graduate student Regan Wilks on the movement of
electrons along peptide molecules. "Everything came together," says Wilks, who is starting his Ph.D. with Moewes.
"I'm working with a great group and a great machine [the CLS]. I grew up here in
Saskatoon and it's wonderful to be able to stay here and do work that can't be done
anywhere else in Canada." Understanding how electrons move between atoms within peptide molecules (the
building blocks of proteins) is important to learning how processes essential to life
work. By adding metal atoms to these peptide chains, electrons can be made to
move across the peptides like tiny wires, raising the possibility of creating molecular
wires for new kinds of computers and nanotechnology devices. "This is very substantial work," says Moewes. "This project has both experimental
and theoretical significance in biology and materials science." The results of both groups' research will be featured at the CLS Annual User
Meeting, to be held in Saskatoon June 16 and 17, 2006. The U of S paper appears
in the Journal of Physical Chemistry; the Western paper appears in the Journal of the
American Chemical Society. Located on the U of S campus in Saskatoon, the Canadian Light Source
synchrotron is one of Canada's largest science projects in a generation. Synchrotron
light is used to determine the chemical nature and molecular structure of materials,
with applications in a wide variety of scientific fields. - 30 - For more information contact: T.K. Sham, The University of Western Ontario, (519) 661-2111 ext. 86431,
tsham@uwo.ca Alex Moewes and Regan Wilks, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-6431,
moewes@usask.ca, regan.wilks@usask.ca Douglas Keddy, Research Communications Coordinator, The University of Western
Ontario, (519)661-2111 ext. 87485, dkeddy@uwo.ca
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