tion. Among the supportive activities have been 

 national and international conferences and work- 

 shops on selected topics such as bioinorganic 

 chemistry and organometailic chemistry (an area 

 recognized recently with two Nobel prizes). 



Structural chemistry. Special effort was made 

 during the 1960's to provide support in this area. 

 This research led to the development of the theo- 

 ries, computational algorithms, and instrumenta- 

 tion (e.g., computerized x-ray diffractometers) that 

 now provide the basis for structure determinations 

 of macromolecules such as proteins, enzymes, and 

 DNA. 



Emphasis has been placed on the development 

 of knowledge about the geometry of individual 

 molecules and about the influences of bonding and 

 of environment on the arrangement of atoms 

 within molecules. Studies of the solid state have 

 utilized x-ray diffraction; support has led to the 

 design of automated diffractometers and to the 

 development of theories and computational meth- 

 ods necessary to interpret results. For complex 

 molecules such as proteins and DNA, this affords 

 a primary tool for the determination of how the 

 molecules are constructed. 



Synchrotron Radiation and Submicron 

 Structures Research 



The relationship between the establishment or 

 upgrading of major facilities and the confident 

 projection of resulting advances in research pro- 

 vides the basis for large projects in this Directorate 

 in the fields of synchrotron radiation and submi- 

 cron structures. Examples follow: 



Development of a major coordinated program 

 using synchrotron radiation. Synchrotron radiation 

 refers to electromagnetic radiation produced as a 

 byproduct of the operation of high energy electron 

 accelerators. This source of high intensity radia- 

 tion provides a powerful new tool for research on 

 the properties of matter, including biological ma- 

 terials. NSF has provided support for synchrotron 

 radiation facilities, but the installations now sup- 

 ported are not able to meet the user demand at the 

 present time and certainly will not be able to han- 

 dle the projected future demand. A study conduct- 

 ed under the auspices of the National Academy of 

 Sciences addressed present and future needs for 

 synchrotron radiation facilities and recommended 

 immediate commitment to the construction of a 

 major new facility as well as the expansion of the 

 existing facilities as soon as possible. In response, 

 the Foundation and ERDA worked out a coordi- 

 nated plan for expanding the United States capa- 

 bility over the next decade to help meet the nation- 

 al need. 



The FY 1978 budget of the Foundation provides 

 funds for the enlargement of the Stanford Syn- 



214 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 



chrotron Radiation Project (SSRP). Also in the FY 

 1978 budget are funds to expand the capability of 

 the Wisconsin Synchrotron Radiation Center 

 (SRC) by replacing the current workhorse, Tanta- 

 lus I, with a larger, more powerful storage ring. 

 The project will require $2.93 million and 2.5 years 

 to complete. The FY 1978 budget for ERDA pro- 

 vides funds for the construction of a major new 

 synchrotron radiation source at the Brookhaven 

 National Laboratory. This construction project is 

 expected to cost $24 million over a four-year per- 

 iod and will complement the NSF facilities. 



The exploitation of these new, as well as the 

 existing facilities, by the provision of research 

 support for users of the facilities will be an area of 

 major emphasis in the coming years. Since FY 

 1975, the Foundation has provided funds for the 

 operation of the center at the University of Wis- 

 consin as a user facility. 



Synchrotron radiation is emitted by the relativis- 

 tic electrons moving in a circular path through a 

 magnetic field. The radiation is extremely intense, 

 covers continuously a wide range of the electro- 

 magnetic spectrum, is highly plane polarized, is 

 well focused, and is pulsed on a nano-second time 

 scale. Tantalus I generates radiation from 60A 

 through the visible, which is used in many ways 

 including photoelectron spectroscopy of solid sur- 

 faces, and absorption spectroscopy of gases. Parti- 

 cularly noteworthy results include the develop- 

 ment of angular resolved photoemission spec- 

 troscopy from solid surfaces, which gives uni- 

 que information about the orientation and ener- 

 gy dependence of the surface atom electronic 

 states. This has allowed scientists to characterize 

 more positively surface atoms and adsorbed at- 

 oms. Many new users of the source are becoming 

 active in this area, which should bring significant 

 progress in the study of surfaces. 



Expansion of research on submicron structures. 

 Facilities will be provided to university research 

 groups for fabricating a wide range of submicron 

 structures and for studying their properties and 

 limitations. Such research holds vast implications 

 for basic physics, crystal growth, catalysis, materi- 

 als science, and biomedicine. There are potential 

 applications of results in integrated circuitry and 

 other areas of microelectronics. 



A National Research and Resource Facility for 

 Submicron Structures is being established, with 

 Cornell University as the host institution, to foster 

 research on methods for building submicron struc- 

 tures and to encourage expansion of the science 

 base needed for submicron engineering; to provide 

 a facility where research workers with different 

 types of science or engineering backgrounds and 

 from many different institutions can build experi- 

 mental structures, devices, and systems needed in 



