Jiyong Zhao, a physicist with the X-ray Science Division (XSD) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, is the 2021 recipient of the Gopal K. Shenoy Excellence in Beamline Science award.

The annual award is given to a beamline scientist at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a DOE Office of Science User Facility at Argonne. It is presented by the APS Users Organization and is intended to recognize scientists who make significant contributions to research or instrument development and promote that work to the user community.

“It has been an honorable experience to work with so many excellent scientists and engineers, including Dr. Gopal Shenoy himself.” — Jiyong Zhao, physicist, Argonne National Laboratory

Zhao was nominated for the award by several professors around the world who frequently conduct their own experiments at the APS, for his work in several X-ray techniques, primarily applications of nuclear resonant scattering, at Sector 3 of the APS. His contributions have led to many important discoveries in the fields of material science and geophysical science, including deep-Earth research. He has contributed to insights into iron alloys at the planet’s core and the atomic behavior of the minerals that make up the Earth’s mantle.

“It is my great pleasure and privilege to work at the APS, a great synchrotron radiation facility,” Zhao said. ​“The award basically recognizes a successful research program, namely nuclear resonant scattering at the APS, and I am just lucky to be one of the talented group members at Sector 3 in the last two decades. I look forward to an upgraded APS in the near future.”

The APS Upgrade will provide a finer X-ray beam, allowing for the study of smaller samples under pressure at Sector 3. This will aid in geophysical research, such as experiments that use pressure to simulate the conditions of the Earth’s core and mantle, as well as the study of nanomaterials.

In nominating Zhao, Jung-Fu Lin, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, said they had worked together for 18 years, and in that time, Zhao and his colleagues built the world’s leading nuclear resonant X-ray scattering programs for research using high pressures and temperatures at Sector 3 of the APS. Lin particularly pointed to the high-pressure research programs, noting that they have led to many important discoveries in deep-Earth research.

Lin also praised Zhao for his work to mentor early-career scientists and students, noting that many of the students and postdoctoral researchers working with him on spin transition and iron alloy research since the early 2000s have gone on to hold academic positions.

Zhao has worked at the APS since 1999, first as an assistant physicist and his current position as a physicist. He graduated in 1986 from Nankai University in China and received his Ph.D. from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Japan. He has served as an assistant scientist at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory in the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; a visiting scientist at Warwick University and Daresbury National Laboratory in the UK; a postdoctoral research fellow at KEK and a postdoctoral research scientist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

“Jiyong has continually worked on expanding the range of scientific problems that can be addressed using nuclear resonant scattering, from magnetic systems in condensed matter physics to the structure minerals under pressure in geophysics,” said X-ray Science Division Director Jonathan Lang.

The award is named for the late Argonne Distinguished Fellow Gopal K. Shenoy, one of the key figures in the creation of the APS.

“It has been an honorable experience to work with so many excellent scientists and engineers, including Dr. Gopal Shenoy himself,” Zhao said.