This talk outlines a comprehensive strategy for establishing a robust quantum science and technology (QST) ecosystem in Africa. The talk begins by analyzing the current research landscape, identifying both existing strengths and critical gaps in the continent's QST topics. The talk then presents a multi-tiered educational blueprint, from core undergraduate foundations to specialized graduate...
AfLS Ceremonial Calling Stick - Profs Simon Connell, Philip Oladijo
Introduction of Speaker - Prof Ahmadou Wague
When an intense laser interacts with a gas of atoms, high-order harmonics are generated. In the time domain, this radiation forms a train of extremely short light pulses, of the order of 100 attoseconds. Attosecond pulses allow the study of the dynamics of electrons in atoms and molecules, using pump-probe techniques. This presentation will highlight some of the key steps of the field of...
The recent status of High Energy Photon Source (HEPS)
Yuhui Dong, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Email: dongyh@ihep.ac.cn
One of the important tendencies in the development of synchrotron radiation sources is low emmitance. Low emmitance storage rings could provide higher brilliance and better coherence, which are very important for...
Overview of LAAAMP
The proposal of a second Latin American synchrotron in the Greater Caribbean is acquiring momentum. A synergy with similar proposals in Africa, Iran, Uzbekistan and with SESAME is arising, Several initiatives have already been carried out, A balance of the outcome, four years after the proposal will be presented, together with an analysis of the feasibility and social, economic, political...
Archeological Materials
Scientific opportunities at the SESAME Synchrotron X-rays beamlines.
SESAME BM02-IR Beamline: present and future.
The optoelectronic oscillators (OEO) consist of closed-loop oscillators characterized by an optical path with local nonlinearity and a linear frequency-filtered electrical path. This para-digmatic system is an ideal benchmark for the investigation of delay-based infinite-dimensional systems, which provide a higher complexity than low-dimensional nonlinear systems. The OEOs find their numerous...
The quality of the beam from a single-mode laser is higher compared to that of other multi-mode lasers due to its operating process, which is based on a single transverse resonating system. Its beam quality factor, i.e., M2, is less than 1.03, so the relation between the ridge width of this laser and the size of the core of the fiber is important for the successful signal transmission.
Due...
Komatiites and picrites are ultramafic volcanic rocks characterized by high magnesium oxide content (15 – 32 wt.%) that mostly erupted throughout the Archean and Proterozoic eras globally. Their production is a contentious topic, with models proposing extensive volatile-free partial melting of mantle peridotite and the melting of hydrous mantle as potential mechanisms. Additionally, numerous...
Introduction
Subduction of oceanic lithosphere fluxes the mantle wedge with carbonate and hydrous fluids, thus commencing the crustal recycling process, which results in mantle heterogeneity. The melting of the subducted slab and the mantle wedge generates arc magmas. Arc magmas are enriched in incompatible trace elements relative to MORB, reflecting contributions from subducted...
Controlling how metals solidify is a key challenge in thermal engineering and materials processing, since it directly shapes the microstructure, mechanical strength, and overall quality of the final product. In this study, we explore the impact of natural convection on the solidification of pure tin metal inside a quasi-2D trapezoidal cavity. The horizontal walls of the trapezoidal cavity are...
This study employs first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations to
examine the hydrogen storage capacity of alkali metal hydrides (XH, where X = Li, Na, and K). We systematically examine the structural, mechanical, dynamical, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of these hydrides, along with key hydrogen storage metrics, such as gravimetric and volumetric capacities, and...
A comprehensive first-principles study of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of Pt-doped LiFeAs superconductors has been carried out using density functional theory (DFT) within the Quantum ESPRESSO package, utilizing the PWscf code and projector augmented-wave (PAW) pseudopotentials based on the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange-correlation functional. Platinum doping...
Scintillation efficiency defines the future of radiation detection. This study examines Rb₂LuI₅ and Rb₂PrI₅ using DFT, TDDFT, and Geant4 simulations. Both compounds show stable orthorhombic structures, moderate band gaps, and strong visible transparency. Short radiative lifetimes and high light yields surpass standard scintillators, while Geant4 results confirm excellent gamma-ray absorption,...
It is our pleasure to announce the first African Light Source Detectors Tutorial, which will be held in the afternoon of Tuesday, 18 November 2025, 12-17h30 GMT+2 in conjunction with the joint African Light Source / African Physical Society conference.
Detectors are crucially important for the science performed at synchrotron and Free-Electron Lasers, and innovative detectors often open up...
XAFS observes chemical states and local structures of materials
Hitoshi Abe1,2
1Institute of Materials Structure Science (IMSS), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK),
1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan.
2Materials Structure Science Program, Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan.
3Graduate School of Science and...
Report of the Light Source WG and chapter of the ASFAP report.
Report of the Compact Light Sources WG and chapter of the ASFAP report.
Report of the Condensed Matter & Materials Physics WG and chapter of the ASFAP report.
Report of the Biophysics WG and chapter of the ASFAP report.
Report of the Atomic & Molecular Physics WG and chapter of the ASFAP report
Summary of recommendations of the ASFAP report as they relate to light sources.
Discussion of ASFAP Report wrt Light Sources
African cities are growing fast, owing to the ongoing development and accelerated demography. This urbanization brings forth challenges for transport and mobility, where millions of passengers should be carried from their homes to various places: schools, markets, hospitals, etc. Several means are available: motorbikes, taxicabs, buses, modified pickups, trucks and vans, trams and...
Background ionizing radiation is a significant source of environmental exposure and possible health hazards for the general public, especially in cities where schools are located next to landfills. The levels and radiological effects of background ionizing radiation at Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe, in Gombe Metropolis, Nigeria, are examined in this study. Using a portable...
Heavy metals are bioaccumulated and bio transferred both by natural and anthropogenic sources. The contamination by heavy metals in soil and waterleaf is one of the major issues to be faced throughout the world and requires attention because heavy metals above their normal ranges are extremely threatening to both plant and animal life. It was therefore of interest to conduct a study to...
In many developing nations, like Ghana, where poor sanitation and agricultural runoff lead to widespread water contamination, access to safe drinking water is still a major problem. The creation and efficacy of a ceramic-carbon composite filter for the elimination of paraquat, a hazardous pesticide frequently detected in wastewater, are examined in this work. Locally produced kaolin and...
ABSTRACT:
After the invention of the first laser in 1960, the laser techniques become rapidly powerful investigation tools to bring concrete answers to various problems in quantum science and technology. Among different laser techniques the Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy ( LIBS) is a technique of fast analysis of a multi-elemental compositions in various surroundings....
Tesfaye Feyisa1, 2*, Fekadu Tolessa1, Abebe Belay1, Kusse Kudishe2, Umer sherefedin3, Melak Birara1, Gemechis Mathewos1, Dereje Gelanu1, Menza Zeyitib1.
1 Department of Applied Physics, School of Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama, Ethiopia.
2 Department of Applied Physics, College of Natural and computational Science, Jinka University,...
Tesfaye Feyisa, Fekadu Tolessa*, Abebe Belay, Semahegn Asemare, Gemechis Mathewos, Jebel Haji
Department of Applied Physics, School of Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama, Ethiopia.
Email: tesfefa@gmail.com
Abstract
Today, high energy consumption and thermal energy management are becoming crucial for sustainable stable environment. Recently, passive...
Newly developed white LEDs are replacing fluorescent lamps and other widely used lighting sources to minimize carbon dioxide emissions and energy loss due to their promising and useful properties such as longer lifespan, reliability, improvement in energy efficiency and luminous efficiency. Tungstates are effective host materials for rare-earth ions dopant for the production of luminescent...
Kimberlite rocks are the primary hosts of diamonds. These rocks have natural radioisotopes that originated from elements formed during supernova processes. These rocks produce new radioisotopes when activated. This work compares the spectral lines of unirradiated kimberlite with irradiated kimberlite. Experimentally, two kimberlites rock with identification numbers S11 and K6 were prepared,...
Africa’s scientific story is entering a new chapter powered by purpose.
The Africa Quantum Consortium (AQC) - standing proudly on the shoulders of, and in partnership with, the African Physical Society (AfPS) and the African Light Source (AfLS) - brings new energy, structure, and continental alignment to Africa’s quantum march toward scientific sovereignty.
Together, these institutions...
Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) of The Cyprus Institute
" Molecular movies of Biomolecules in action with X-Ray Free Electron Lasers and status on building the world’s first compact XFEL”
Petra Fromme
The Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery and School of Molecular Sciences, Tempe, Arizona 85287- 5001
petra.fromme@asu.edu
Biological processes are highly dynamic, while most of the structures of biomolecules determined by X-ray...
Synchrotron Earth and Environmental Science (SEES) program
Quantum Mechanical Formalism of Charged-Particle Beam Optics
Sameen Ahmed Khan
Department of Mathematics and Sciences, College of Arts and Applied Sciences, Dhofar University, Salalah, Sultanate of Oman.
rohelakhan@yahoo.com, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1264-2302
A formalism of Quantum Charged Particle Beam Optics is being developed since 1989 for both nonrelativistic and...
Physics collision events at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can be affected, or even mimicked by non-collision sources such as beam-induced backgrounds (BIB), cosmic particles, and detector noise. Data collected during unpaired and empty proton bunch crossings provide background-enriched samples used to characterize these effects. BIB can impact detector performance and fake signals in...
Abstract. The Peltier modules are used for small scale cooling and refrigeration purposes at both domestic and industrial sectors. Portable refrigerators operated by Peltier element have been constructed, and experiments are conducted on air or/and water as coolants on module efficiency using water pump or fans, but the forced heat dissipation systems used poses problems that limit its...
Carbonization is a thermochemical process that produces charcoal while releasing significant amount of heat. Systems designed to recover this thermal energy for co-, tri-, or multi-generation applications are attracting increasing interest. This study presents a carbonizer equipped with a heat recovery system for the cogeneration of hot water. The objective is to improve the recovery of...
ABSTRACT
Aflatoxins (AFs) are produced by certain fungi found on agricultural crops like maize, peanuts, cottonseed, and tree nuts. The main aflatoxin producers are Aspergillus parasiticus and A. flavus. The most widely known are Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), Aflatoxin B2 (AFB2), Aflatoxin G1 (AFG1), and Aflatoxin G2 (AFG2). AFB1 is the most toxic and highly carcinogenic of all the AFs, and long-term...
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have emerged as a promising next generation source of green energy due to some desirable properties such as low-cost fabrication, mechanical flexibility, and tunable opto-electronic properties [1]. Despite achieving power conversion efficiencies around 20%, the limited long-term stability of the multi-layer OSCs remains a major challenge for the full...
ASSESSMENT OF BACKGROUND IONIZING RADIATION IN SELECTED DUMPSITE IN CALABAR, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA.
Abstract
Rapid urbanization in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria has led to the increase in the volume of waste generation. This study investigates background ionizing radiation levels in dumpsite environments within Calabar, Nigeria, utilizing gamma spectrometry and soil analysis...
The study of electron impact ionization of atomic targets is very important because of the wide range of kinematical situations available in the three body final state. Extensive research has been done on this area using different method such DWBA, CCC and ECS but there is a generally lack of agreement between the theoretical and experimental results at low electron impact energies. In this...
NanoTerasu is Japan's newest 3GeV synchrotron radiation facility, which commenced user operations in 2024. NanoTerasu hosts a suite of advanced beamlines, including BL02U dedicated to ultrahigh-resolution Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS). RIXS is a powerful, photon-in/photon-out spectroscopic technique that allows us to observe very low-energy excitations in materials. These...
1.Introduction
Dinocephalians are a non-mammalian therapsids (mammalian ancestors) that lived during the Permian (~260 million years ago) [1,2, 3]. They are divided into two main groups: carnivorous (anteosaurs) and herbivorous (tapinocephalians) [1,4,5]. What unites dinocephalians as a group is their disproportionately large heads and excessively thick skulls, which can be around 10 cm...
Orthosuchus stormbergi was a small bodied, Early Jurassic crocodyliform. It is a representative of a diverse assemblage of early branching crocodylomorph taxa from the upper Elliot Formation of South Africa. The life history of these early branching taxa remains poorly understood, with only sparse investigations into their osteohistology, yet species like Orthosuchus have potential to...
Background: Synchrotron Light Sources and Social Networks
For 10+ years, the African Light Source Foundation and project (AfLS) have been capacity building in terms of human resources, global networking, and local laboratory infrastructure; all towards the realization of 4th generation synchrotron light source on the African continent.
We are building networks, identifying partners,...
1. Introduction
The Earth’s interior is one of the forefronts of Earth science, and the inner core, the center part of the Earth, has been a long-term research topic. The Earth’s inner core, which is approximately three-quarters the size of the Moon, is considered to be mostly iron. However, laboratory experiments and theoretical studies have shown that the density and sound velocities...
1.Introduction
This study presents a detailed chemical and mineralogical analysis of manganese ore from the Nsuta deposit in Ghana. We employed an integrated multi-technique approach to address gaps in the comprehensive characterisation of this strategic resource, particularly concerning valuable elements of economic value. Subsurface samples were prepared and separated into distinct...
Coltan ore is one of the “3 T” minerals, which contains technologically important metals, namely tantalum and niobium. Market demand for these metals is growing as technology evolves, making them critical to manufacturing industries. However, the mineral supply chains are required to be conflict free so that Manufacturers do not, although involuntarily, contribute to promote “blood minerals”....
Abstract
A green synthesis of pure zinc oxide and silver-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO and Ag-ZnO NPs) is reported. This eco-friendly method utilizes tobacco leaf aqueous extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent, combined with a hydrothermal process at 120°C for 6 hours to control nanoparticle formation. The study aimed to synthesize, characterize, and evaluate the antimicrobial...
In this study, first principles calculations are employed to investigate the structural, electronic, and optical properties of (Ni, Zn)xCo1−xS in its tetragonal phase. The optimized lattice parameters and negative defect formation energies confirm structural integrity and thermodynamic stability across doping levels. The calculations are performed using both the GGA and the HSE06 hybrid...
Abstract:
The catalysts with metal particles as active sites play an important role for the understanding of hydrogen reaction mechanism for rational design of electrocatalysts. Recently, the application of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) in electrochemical hydrogen production has significantly increased. Here, a molybdenum-copper metal-organic framework (Mo-Cu MOF) was prepared by a simple...
1- Introduction
New instruments have been employed for spectroscopic studies of gaseous astrophysical environments using synchrotron photoabsorption in the soft X-ray range (0.1–2 keV) at the Elettra Laboratory in Trieste, Italy.
The first instrument used in this study is the Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) [1]. The second is a newly developed setup called the OctoIonGuide (OIG), which was...
Following an upgrade programme, the ESRF performance has been increased a hundredfold, enabling more experiments in less time. New access modes were designed to optimise the use of beamtime and to facilitate collaborations between researchers on topics with strong societal impact. From 2021 to 2024, CEA and the ESRF tested multi-beamline access through the creation of a first pilot hub...
Bulk electronic structure of lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) by hard x-ray angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy
SIAM II Thailand Photon Source
The development of accelerator-based light sources relies heavily on accurate beam diagnostics to ensure high beam quality for scientific users. This work presents longitudinal beam diagnostics performed with streak camera imaging at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, with application to different facilities at the Institute. Using picosecond resolution, streak cameras enable direct...
Dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) offer a promising route to novel hybrid electronic devices that can integrate logic processing, communication, and data storage into a single integrated circuit (IC). These DMS-based hybrid devices can use magnetic or electric force, voltage and light to manipulate electron charge and spin, potentially enabling smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient...
Synthesis and Characterization of Aluminophosphate. Application to photodegradation of Methyl Violet Dye
Radia Bagtache a , Fawzia Boursas a, Mohamed Trari b
a Laboratory of Electrochemistry-Corrosion, Metallurgy and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, (USTHB), BP 32, 16111, Algiers, Algeria
b Laboratory of Storage and Valorisation of Renewable Energies, Faculty of...
In this study, hierarchical nickel nanowires (h-Ni NWs) were employed as a conductive backbone to enhance the electrochemical behavior of Ni Co sulfides for efficient energy storage. The composite was fabricated through a simple hydrothermal route, yielding a core–shell NiS/Co₃S₄@h-Ni NW structure. The physicochemical properties of the obtained materials were investigated using X-ray...
1.Introduction
Water significantly influences physical and chemical properties of Earth's mantle. Experimental and petrological studies suggest that the Earth’s mantle transition zone is a large water reservoir. On the other hand, the water storage capacity of the lower mantle is still under debate. Although major lower-mantle minerals of bridgmanite and ferropericlase have limited water...
