The Metrology Light Source – The new dedicated electron storage ring of PTB

The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is currently constructing a low-energy electron storage ring in the close vicinity of BESSY II where PTB operates a laboratory for synchrotron-radiation-based metrology, mainly in the X-ray spectral region. The new storage ring, which is called ‘Metrology Light Source’ (MLS), will mainly be dedicated to radiometry and technological development in the UV, VUV and EUV spectral range and will thus fill the gap in the spectral range that has opened up since the shut-down of BESSY I. Moreover, the MLS will deliver intense radiation in the IR and FIR/THz spectral range. The MLS can be operated with parameters optimized for special calibration tasks, which, at a multi-user facility such as BESSY II, is rarely possible. The electron energy can be tuned in the range from 200 MeV up to 600 MeV and the electron beam current can be adjusted from 1 pA (single electron) up to 200 mA. All relevant storage ring parameters can be measured with high accuracy, thus making the MLS a source of calculable synchrotron radiation, i.e. a primary source standard. The MLS is designed in close co-operation with the BESSY GmbH, construction has started in the autumn of 2004 and user operation is scheduled to begin in 2008.