Facilities
Building 434: Sectors 13, 14, and 15. Home of CARS!
Location
CARS beamlines are located at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) within Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Argonne is a U.S. Department of Energy facility about 30 miles from downtown Chicago, IL. The University of Chicago provides additional administrative offices and a small conference room on the University campus, but all experimental facilities are located at the APS.
Argonne is a controlled-access facility, and advance permission is required for entry by persons who are not citizens of the United States (see Argonne Site Access Page).
The amenities at Argonne are available to all users, including a hotel (the Argonne Guest House), restaurant, cafeteria, grill, and coffee shop. You can find more information at the Argonne Travel and Amenities Page. The laboratory is surrounded by the Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve with pleasant trails for walking and biking (9.5-mile loop and smaller trails).
Light Source
The APS is a 7-GeV, high-brilliance synchrotron light source. Details about the source parameters are available from the APS Status Page, which also provides a link to the operating schedule and operational status. Basic details of our beamline sources are available at the APS Beamline Directory Page.
The APS provides beam in three runs each calendar year, roughly January-April, May-August, and September-December. The one-month shutdowns are used for maintenance and upgrades. During a run, beam is provided around the clock, except for a one to two day maintenance shutdown each week.
Work Space and Services
At the Advanced Photon Source, CARS occupies office and laboratory space in Building 434, a laboratory office module (LOM) on the south side of the APS ring. Offices are located in three “pentagons” within this building. Experimental operations are conducted at three corresponding sectors of the APS experiment hall (sectors 13, 14, and 15). The building houses staff offices, user lounges and workspace, a conference room, a lunchroom (microwave, refrigerator, sink), and washrooms with a shower. Laboratory, machine shop, and computing facilities are also available in the LOM, and the APS maintains a general stockroom. Many specialized services can be obtained for a fee from Argonne and the University of Chicago.
Sector Specific Facility Information
You can find facility related information specific to each CARS sector using the links below.
Beamline Directory Pages
Contacts, beamline specifications, and specialized beamline and laboratory resources are listed in the APS beamline directory.
GSECARS – Sector 13
BioCARS – Sector 14
NSF’s ChemMatCARS – Sector 15
Lab Facilities
Each CARS sector provides a full range of lab support, making both wet and dry labs available to users. Each is equipped to suit the needs of that sector’s users. The APS maintains a small stockroom, which is available to users with funded user accounts.
GSECARS Labs
BioCARS Labs
NSF’s ChemMatCARS Labs
Machine Shop
A small machine shop is available to CARS staff and trained users. The shop is equipped with a drill press, lathe, milling machine, grinder and band saw. The University of Chicago Engineering Center provides technical and machine shop services to the CARS facility. The APS also has a well-equipped central shop facility for large machining jobs, as well as facilities for crystal cutting and an x-ray mirror coating laboratory.
Software
Here, you will find links to the software resources available from each CARS sector.