Esperimenti di avanguardia con la luce di sincrotrone: dalla spettroscopia alla diffrattometria

This paper describes some applications of the synchrotron radiation emitted by ELETTRA a third-generation dedicated synchrotron built near Trieste. ELETTRA will be a very strong source of well collimated X-rays. Among the uses of such radiation, Super-ESCA spectroscopy will allow very fast chemical analysis of surfaces, paving the way to research on the dynamics of surface chemical reactions, among which catalysis, corrosion etc. Other applications will be X-ray microscopy (with 500 Angstrom resolution), fluorescence spectroscopy and fast diffractometric exploration of crystallized biological macromolecules such as proteins, in order to establish their structures, and viruses, in order to study the mechanisms by which they interact with other living beings.