Building particle accelerators takes more than a village

Each year, thousands of people travel far and wide to see architectural wonders such as the towering steps of the Kukulkan Temple in Chichen Itza or the intricate façade of Cologne Cathedral in Germany. Like these historical and cultural wonders, thousands of researchers visit his five light source facilities at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) each year. Rather than asking for opinions, they experimented with the ultra-bright synchrotron light (mainly his X-rays) from these facilities to advance science in areas ranging from batteries to medicine. Trying to push the boundaries.

This light does not appear out of nowhere. It must be produced by a large and complex particle accelerator. And to keep the X-rays as bright as possible, scientists and engineers are constantly working on his X-ray advances. This article focuses on an ongoing collaborative project of the Accelerator Division of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at DOE’s Brookhaven Laboratory.

According to historical sources, it took the Germans more than 600 years to build the first Cologne Cathedral, but archaeologists estimate that the Temple of Kukulkan took at least 200 years to build in two stages. Thousands of people worked on these monuments during these very long construction periods. This is a feat they share with modern particle accelerator projects. It took him only ten years to build the first NSLS-II, International efforts Hundreds of people from different fields and professions.

From the civil engineering challenges of designing the building to constructing the hundreds of magnets in the accelerator, building a particle accelerator for a synchrotron light source truly takes more than a village. Similarly, many modern accelerator projects leverage domain expertise across multiple institutions and countries.

Timur Shaftan, NSLS-II Accelerator Division Director, said: “Today, we are sharing this knowledge through active partnerships with other major accelerator projects in the United States to move accelerators across the country forward.”

NSLS-II experts are working with three of the four other DOE sources to support ongoing upgrades.

rome wasn’t built in a day

Two major upgrades underway at US light sources are fundamental leaps in accelerator technology. Light sources such as NSLS-II use billions of electrons to produce his X-rays. At the center of these facilities, electrons are propelled through beam pipes thousands of feet in large groups called bunches.

In a circular light source, hundreds of magnets keep electrons in orbit around the ring. These magnets are arranged in a very specific way called a magnetic grid (most grids in use today are based on Chasman-Green or double-bent achromatic grids). This allows scientists to add devices to the ring. These additional devices, called insertion devices, are essential in light sources as they can produce particularly bright beams of synchrotron light by amplifying the natural properties of electrons. Whenever an electron travels around a corner at nearly the speed of light, it emits an X-ray. Emitted X-rays are amplified by moving the electrons in a long slalom course. The insertion device is just that: an electronic slalom course.

A fundamental leap forward in accelerator technology is the next step in the evolution of lattices. The original Chasman-Green lattice was developed in the 1970s by Brookhaven researchers Renate Chasman and George Kenneth Green for his original NSLS. The Chasman-Green grating ushered in a new era of light sources, but today’s scientific challenges require X-rays brighter than ever before.

Just as the invention of concrete or steel for skyscrapers allowed mankind to reach further into the sky, so the development of new techniques in accelerator physics and engineering will allow scientists to produce even brighter X-ray beams. I was able to create a new placement. This array is called a “multi-bend achromatic grid”. His two light sources in the United States, the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory, will replace old particle accelerators with new, brighter ones that use this I’m doing it. new grid.

Such a major upgrade of both facilities requires hundreds of new magnets to manipulate the electrons. The NSLS-II Accelerator Division has supported the APS upgrade by designing and overseeing the manufacture of 165 of the 1,352 magnets being manufactured for the APS accelerator complex.

“The magnets we designed are very versatile. They have eight poles, which can make the electron beam more stable across the ring in multiple directions simultaneously. The more stable the electron beam, the better the quality of the synchrotron light,” said Sushil Sharma, a mechanical engineering expert at NSLS-II.

But magnets aren’t the only thing the NSLS-II team is working on upgrading APS.

“We are working on four different contracts for APS, including instrumentation for the detection and management of the electron beam, and interlocks to ensure the safety of those working on the accelerator. We are pleased to support this important upgrade project of APS,” said Danny Padrazo, NSLS-II Diagnostics and Instrumentation Group Leader.

The NSLS-II team isn’t working on the magnets for the ALS upgrade (the second major upgrade project), but they’re working on something just as important: the power supply.

“Over the past four years, we’ve partnered with our colleagues at ALS to design, develop, build, test, and deliver 1,000 power supplies to ALS. This alone is a $25 million project,” says Greg Fries of NSLS. explains. Director of II Sub-Accelerator Division.

NSLS-II electrical engineering expert George Ganetis adds: particle accelerator.”

No ordinary construction project

In addition, the team is partnering with Brookhaven’s Collider Accelerator Division on the lab’s newest major project, the Electron Ion Collider (EIC). The EIC is a 2.5-mile-long accelerator that collides electrons with protons and other ions (atomic nuclei). Each collision gives scientists a glimpse inside the ion, learning more about the ion’s internal building blocks (the quarks and gluons that make up the protons and neutrons) and the fundamental forces that hold these building blocks together. I can.

When humans learned the details of how electrons work and the electromagnetic force, they were able to build circuits, computers, and more. By understanding the fundamental forces at work in the atomic nucleus (the powerful nuclear force), scientists learn how the smallest building blocks make up the mass and other properties of matter. This knowledge could be the key to discovering future technologies.

At EIC, the NSLS-II team supports the design of the accelerator’s magnetic grid. The EIC is a collider, but uses an array of magnets to steer the particle beam. The team supports and explores expanding the scope of work on beam diagnostics, vacuum systems and power supplies.

Did Elvis leave the building?

With all the other accelerator projects going on across the country and in Brookhaven one might wonder if the NSLS-II accelerator division has “migrated” from NSLS-II to all these new machines . However, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“All the additional projects for our other accelerators keep our skills sharp and allow us to continuously learn best practices in a complex and rapidly changing field,” says Fries.

“In addition to our skills and benefits to the project, all of these projects are a great warm-up for future NSLS-II upgrades,” said Shaftan.

As with APS and ALS, the next phase of NSLS-II may require its complete replacement. acceleratorThe Accelerator division maintains its expertise by actively working on US upgrade projects while roadmaps for future facility upgrades are being evaluated. These efforts will provide valuable experience in the development of Brookhaven’s next light source. Accelerator division light These activities are part of a strategy to reach that goal.