The Australian Synchrotron is a world-class research facility that uses accelerator technology to produce a powerful source o ... f light -- x-rays and infrared radiation -- a million times brighter than the sun. The facility harnesses that light so academic and industry researchers can see the fundamental structure, composition and function of materials, on scales ranging from the atomic to the macroscopic - with a level of detail, speed and accuracy not possible using conventional analysis techniques. The Australian Synchrotron supports the research needs of Australia’s major universities and research centres, and businesses ranging from small-to-medium enterprises to multinational companies. During 2014-15 the Australian Synchrotron supported more than 4,300 researcher visits and close to 1,000 experiments in areas such as medicine, agriculture, environment, defence, transport, advanced manufacturing and mining. read more