MAX IV
One of the world’s brightest and most powerful lights is created at MAX IV.
Using the lights from MAX IV, scientists can understand how materials are built and how they can be used better than ever before.
Exploring materials with lights
At MAX IV, scientists accelerate electrons in a linear accelerator so that they travel at nearly the speed of light. The electrons then enter storage rings where their orbits are bent by magnets. As the electrons orbid bend, they emit synchrotron light, which is a very intense X-ray light. The light is channelled through special beamlines to research stations, where the actual experiments take place.
Thanks to the high quality of the lights, scientists can examine the structure and surface of a material in greater detail than ever before. In short, they look at how the X-ray beam changes when, for example, it penetrates or reflects off the material sample and creates an image of the sample. The technology is used, for example, in nanoscience to search for new materials and to develop new medicines.
World-leading technology
The light at MAX IV is up to a hundred times brighter than at the three previous MAX facilities at ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ. This ‘fourth-generation’ synchrotron light source is being replicated at research facilities around the world and attracts international scientists to Lund. MAX IV currently has 16 experimental stations used by both universities and the industrial sector with room for another 12 in the future.
With the help of MAX IV, scientists can help develop solutions in areas such as
- Energy materials – including solar cells and batteries
- Sustainable and circular materials – such as packaging made from renewable raw materials
- Health research – into areas such as Alzheimer's disease and antiviral drugs
- Catalysis – including exhaust gas cleaning and the production of key chemicals.
- Cultural heritage – for example archaeological artefacts
- Quantum materials – such as new electronics
- Planet and environment – for example aerosols and their impact on the climate
- Technology – including stronger and lighter steel or imaging equipment for healthcare.
Scientists at MAX IV also carry out basic research needed to solve future problems we do not know about yet..
1. Electrons are created in an electron gun and pushed further into a linear accelerator.
2. The linear accelerator increases the energy of the electrons until they are travelling at almost the speed of light.
3. The electrons from the linear accelerator are pushed into and stored in one of two different storage rings. There they travel lap after lap inside a tube under vacuum. The electrons are guided around by strong control magnets.
4. At specific points around the ring, magnets produce light and cause the electrons to oscillate. This releases energy in the form of light that is emitted in the direction of travel.
5. Light-producing magnets are currently located at 16 points around the storage rings. From there, light is delivered to all of the facility's experimental stations. All experimental stations receive light at the same time.
6. The light is prepared and filtered at each experimental station so that only light with the right wavelength remains.
7. The light shines on the sample and is then affected so that it changes direction or energy, for example.
8. The change in the light is measured by a detector.
9. The data is analysed and the material properties are visualised.
MAX IV
ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ hosts the MAX IV synchrotron light facility, a national research infrastructure for materials and life sciences.
MAX IV has 16 experimental stations that are open to a wide range of research areas. In 2024, more than 445 research projects were carried out. Since 2016, 932 articles have been published using data from MAX IV.
- Construction cost: approximately SEK 6 billion
- Opened for research: 2016
- Number of employees: 297 people (2024)
- Number of users: 1900 people per year (2024).
MAX IV's main funders are the Swedish Research Council, Vinnova, Swedish universities, Formas, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.