Illuminating the molecular world with infrared brilliance

The SESAME BM02-IR beamline, operational since November 2018, is a cutting-edge facility serving the global Infrared scientific community with reliable capacity and advanced capabilities. The beamline was designed and built in collaboration with the French light source, SOLEIL. Dedicated for Synchrotron Radiation Fourier Transform Infrared Spectromicroscopy (SR-µFTIR), it uses a high-performance FTIR interferometer and harnesses infrared synchrotron radiation from both the bending magnet (BM) and edge radiation (ER) sources.

This vibrational technique, when coupled with synchrotron brilliance, delivers up to 1000× brighter signals than conventional thermal sources, with unique advantages in time structure, polarization, and broad wavelength coverage spanning the mid-IR (2.5–25 µm) and extending into the far-IR/THz region. The beamline provides powerful tools for non-destructive and spatially resolved chemical analysis. By integrating Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry with advanced microscopy, the beamline enables scientists to identify and image IR-active vibrational modes at the diffraction-limited microscopic scale. In particular, it measures optically active molecular vibrations at the micro- and nano-scale, generating highly specific, spatially distributed chemical fingerprints. Diverse fields from material science and forensics, geology to mineralogy, food and agriculture, water and soil pollution and environmental studies, to pharma, biomedicine and life sciences, as well as cultural heritage, archaeology, palaeontology and art restoration.

With diffraction-limited spatial resolution and superior signal-to-noise ratios, the BM02-IR beamline opens new frontiers for discovery, offering scientists a powerful tool to explore the molecular world in unprecedented detail.

SESAME Joins INFN-CHNet with New Cultural Heritage Laboratory

In 2022, SESAME inaugurated a new laboratory dedicated to cultural heritage as part of the Cultural Heritage Network, CHNet, of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN). This important milestone marked SESAME’s official inclusion in the network, reinforcing international collaboration. To support advanced research, INFN has equipped the BM02-IR beamline with a state-of-the-art endstation providing powerful tools for non-invasive analysis, enabling researchers to explore and safeguard cultural treasures.