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Hybrid Ring – Conceptual design of light source that allows simultaneous use of two beams

2022/04/012022/04/11

A new idea for epochal synchrotron radiation facility is proposed at the Photon Factory jointly operated by the Institute of Materials Structure Science and the Accelerator Laboratory of the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). The new facility called the Hybrid Ring is the advanced storage ring light source combined with a long pulsed superconducting linear accelerator.

The Photon Factory (PF) was the first dedicated synchrotron radiation facility in Japan with a wide range of photon energy from VSX to X-rays. From its first beam in 1982, PF widely supports both basic science and its application of the researchers from universities, national organizations, and private companies. Now, KEK aims to construct a successor facility to the Photon Factory by the early 2030s that is the 50th anniversary of the first beam. New design for the light source facility suitable for a world-class accelerator research institute is underway.

A research group led by Associate Professor Kentaro Harada and Professor Yukinori Kobayashi at the Accelerator Division 6 of the Accelerator Laboratory and Professor Nobumasa Funamori at the Photon Factory of the Institute of Materials Structure Science have developed a new concept of a synchrotron radiation facility called the Hybrid Ring. The Hybrid Ring can not only promote conventional synchrotron radiation user experiments but also develop a new type of user experiment by simultaneous use of two synchrotron radiation beams. These features are expected to make further contributions to a wider range of scientific and technological fields.

Read more on the KEK website

Image: Conceptual diagram of the Hybrid Ring

Women in Science @SLRI

2022/02/242022/02/24

Thailand is home to the Synchrotron Light Research Institute (SLRI) and this week’s #LightSourceSelfie features three of their staff members – Dr Phakkhananan Pakawanit, Beamline Scientist, Dr Prapaiwan Sunwong, Accelerator Physicist, and Supawan Srichan, Engineer. During this enlightening video, they explain their roles, the challenges and what excites them about working at a light source. Dr Sunwong describes a big 7 year project to design and build a new 3.0 Gev synchrotron light source in the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation (EECi). In June 2022, SLRI will host the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC’22) in Bangkok. IPAC is the main international event for the worldwide accelerator community and industry. To find out more, visit www.ipac22.org

SLRL’s #LightSourceSelfie

Opening of ESRF-Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS), a new generation of synchrotron

2020/08/252020/08/25

25 August 2020 – A brilliant new light shines in Grenoble, France, with the opening of the ESRF-Extremely Brilliant Source (ESRF-EBS), the first-of-a-kind fourth-generation high-energy synchrotron. After a 20-month shutdown, scientific users are back at the ESRF to carry out experiments with the new EBS source.

The ring-shaped machine, 844 metres in circumference, generates X-ray beams 100 times brighter than its predecessor’s, and 10 trillion times brighter than medical X-rays. This intense X-ray beam hails a new era for science to understand the complexity of materials and living matter at the nanometric level. ESRF-EBS will contribute to tackling global challenges in key areas such as health, environment, energy and new industrial materials, and to unveiling hidden secrets of our natural and cultural heritage through the non-destructive investigation of precious artefacts and palaeontological treasures. A shining example of international cooperation, EBS has been funded by 22 countries joining forces to construct this innovative and world-unique research infrastructure with an investment of 150 million euros over 2015-2022, lighting the way for more than a dozen projects worldwide, including in the United States and Japan.

“The opening of the first high-energy fourth-generation synchrotron to users is a landmark for the whole X-ray science community. We are all thrilled to envisage the revolutionary science to be carried out and the new applications that will start to emerge. All ESRF staff should be commended for such an achievement, attained on time and on budget in spite of the current circumstances,” says Miguel Ángel García Aranda, chair of the ESRF council.

Read more on the ESRF website

Image: Panoramic view of the ESRF. Credit: S. Candé.

One of Sirius’ most important steps: first electron loop around the storage ring

2019/11/282019/12/02

This is one of the most important stages of the largest scientific project in Brazil .

The Sirius project has just completed one of its most important steps: the first electron loop around its main particle accelerator, called the Storage Ring. In this large structure, 518 meters in circumference, the electrons accelerated to very high energies produce synchrotron light: a very bright light used in scientific experiments that could revolutionize knowledge in health, energy, materials and more.
The first loop demonstrates that thousands of components such as magnets, ultra-high-vacuum chambers and sensors are working in sync, and that the entire structure, with parts weighing hundreds of kilograms, have been aligned to micrometer standards (up to five times smaller than a strand of hair) needed to guide the trajectory of the particles.
Sirius is the largest and most complex scientific infrastructure ever built in Brazil and one of the first 4th generation synchrotron light source to be built in the world and it was designed to put Brazil at the forefront of this type of technology.

The next steps of the project include concluding the assembly of the first beamlines: the research stations where scientists conduct their experiments. These stations allow researchers to study the structure of virtually any organic and inorganic materials, such as proteins, viruses, rocks, plants, soil, alloys, among many others, in the atomic and molecular scale with very high resolution and speed.

>Read more on the LNLS (CNPEM) website

Picture: first loop around the storage ring.

First electron beam loops around Sirius’ booster

2019/03/192019/03/20

New Brazilian synchrotron light source will allow unprecedented experiments benefitting many fields

In the early evening of March 8th, when the campus of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) was mostly silent, shouts of celebration echoed through the corridors of the Sirius building, the new Brazilian synchrotron light source.
Inside, the team responsible for the installation of the particle accelerators reached another milestone: the first loop around the second among its three accelerators: the booster. It is a finely tuned equipment, along which the electrons must travel with micrometric precision.
After the initial production and acceleration of the electrons in the Linac, the electrons gain more and more energy at each loop around the Booster. When they reach the appropriate energy levels, the electrons are deposited in the main accelerator, called storage ring, where they remain for long periods of time generating synchrotron light.

Image: Sirius in Campinas (Brazil).

Bulgarian President visits SESAME

2018/12/162019/01/08

On 15 December, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, paid an official visit to SESAME. Among the 7 delegates accompanying him were the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Ekaterina Zakharieva, and Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Jordan, Venelin Lazarov. The visit was prompted by the President’s wish to see at first hand SESAME at work.

Bulgaria is one of the 9 countries forming part of SEEIIST (South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies), an intergovernmental project designed to promote science for peace in South East Europe following the CERN model. The other countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, and in the Declaration of Intent signed by the 9 countries in 2017 SESAME is cited as an example of a similar initiative that came to fruition.

>Read more on the SESAME website

Image: The Director of SESAME, Khaled Toukan, welcoming the President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, and the Bulgarian delegation.
Credit: SESAME

No beam for a while. #SeeUin2020

2018/12/102018/12/18

The 10th December 2018, marks a key date in the history of the ESRF.

Thirty years after the signature of the ESRF Convention, the beam has been stopped for the last time in the original storage ring. Now begins a 20-month shutdown to dismantle the storage ring that has served the international scientific community with bright and reliable X-rays for the last 30 years, to make way for a new and revolutionary X-ray source, the Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) which will open to users in 2020.

“Today, the EBS project is officially entering a new stage, which is the fruit of our hard work of the last four years. Our imagination, engineering design, quality control and assembly, guided by strict project management, has made it possible to start the swap in our tunnel between the old and the new storage ring. This is possible thanks to the great capability of ESRF staff”, said Francesco Sette, ESRF Director General.

>Read more on the ESRF website

New hutches installed as CHESS-U takes shape

2018/09/172018/09/20

The construction portion of the CHESS-U upgrade is nearing completion as teams work to assemble the last of the experimental hutches. While there is still plenty of work to be done, the preparation for becoming a true 3^rd-generation lightsource is paying off.

In early 2019, CHESS-U will have an increased energy of the electron beam, from 5.3 to 6.0 GeV, double the current from 100 to 200 mA, and reduction of the horizontal emittance of the x-ray beam from 100nm to 30nm.
While these high energy x-rays will soon benefit researchers from around the world, new hutches are currently being built to contain and control the beam from the new undulator sources being installed. These hutches, or light-tight experimental rooms, will contain the x-rays by using multiple layers of lead for the walls and ceilings with additional shielding at the seams.

The design and installation of these hutches has been carefully coordinated. As utilities, cables and HVAC systems start to enter each room, it is worth noting the clever design that was used in order to retain the radiation-tight rooms. While safety was definitely at the forefront of the engineers’ minds, the ability to streamline the installation process was deliberately considered, and has since proven useful to compensate for any unavoidable delays.

>Read more on the CHESS website

Image: Kurt McDonald, CHESS Operator, helps install a new hutch for Sector 2. The modular design of the hutches has allowed for quicker installation.

Thailand is planning to build its ‘second’ Synchrotron Light Source

2018/08/312018/08/31

Synchrotron light source is the national infrastructure in science and technology for its contribution of research analysis from downstream, midstream, to upstream levels. Being an effective tool for advanced research, synchrotron promotes research targeting industrial applications for product development and innovation.

Thailand’s synchrotron radiation facility, the 2nd generation synchrotron light source, generates electron beam energy at 1.2 GeV covering spectral range from infrared to low-energy X-Rays. With such energy, the capacity of industrial and medical research is restricted due to the necessity of wider research techniques requiring higher energy and intensity of light. To produce high-energy X-Rays, Thailand should be compelled to develop the 4th generation of synchrotron light source with 2.5 times higher electron energy and 100,000 times higher intensity. This improvement aim to enhance research framework and facility service of Thailand to the leading position in medical, industrial, material, agricultural, food, and commercial research, including application and basic research, as well as becoming one of the top leaders in science and technology of Asia Pacific continent.

Image: Architectural model of Thailand’s future second Synchrotron Light Source

SIRIUS has more than 50% of its construction works completed

2017/05/292018/10/23

The construction of accelerator floor, the most challenging phase of the building, has recently started.

Sirius – the new fourth-generation synchrotron light source of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) has recently completed more than half of its construction works. The inauguration is expected for 2018, following the first loop of the electron beams in the accelerators.

Sirius will be a state-of-the-art scientific tool for the structural analysis of materials, both organic and inorganic. Its accelerators and beamlines will be housed within a 68,000-square-meter building, which is among the most sophisticated ever built in Brazil, with unprecedented requirements for mechanical and thermal stability.

>Read More

The state of CHESS-U beamlines

2017/04/132017/10/16

The beamline upgrade portion of the CHESS-U project is moving ahead at full steam.

Scientific needs have been identified. A suitable layout for the experimental floor has been devised. The work breakdown structure (WBS) has been created and System Managers have been assigned. Two large contracts have been awarded and designs are being vetted. We are almost ready to cut metal.

One year has passed since I was asked to be Project Manager for the beamline half of what has become the CHESS-U project. With fits and starts, working around an intense operations schedule, CHESS staff have accomplished a remarkable amount of work so far in preparation for the largest upgrade we have tackled in CHESS history. Summer 2016 started off with a series of science workshops to facilitate creating a science case for the future of CHESS. They also provided guidance for fleshing out upgrade concepts leading up to an External Conceptual Design review in December. With those concepts blessed, technical specs and designs proceeded in earnest. Critical paths were identified, leading to contracts being awarded for sector front ends and hutches to local company Advanced Design Consulting (ADC).