accelerating-news-arc.web.cern.ch - issue 21

The road to accelerator energy efficiency

Jennifer Toes — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 09:17:20 +0000

The road to accelerator energy efficiency

by Jennifer Toes (CERN)

Construction at CERN of a prototype of a 144:1 power combiner to combine 144 solid-state amplifiers
of 1 kW each (Image: Eric Montesinos)

As accelerators change, grow and advance to continue to make scientific discoveries, so too does their need for energy.

Keeping particle accelerators sustainable, minimising their cost and impact on the public energy grid and environment, is a current goal for many particle physicists and engineers. Work Package 3 (WP3) of the EuCARD-2 project, which ended in April 2017, produced a dedicated report on maximising the energy efficiency of certain accelerator systems and alternate uses for energy wasted in the form of heat.

Radiofrequency (RF) systems, commonly used in accelerators to drive accelerating structures in accelerating particles, are prone to energy wastage and often contribute to the overall energy inefficiency of accelerator facilities. As such, WP3’s Task 3 reviewed concepts and designs for more efficient RF systems, whilst Task 2 investigated avenues for making use of or recovering lost energy by other means.

When considering more efficient RF systems, Task 3 focused on supporting the development of three technologies: 1) multi-beam Inductive Output Tubes (IOTs), 2) an improved bunching mechanism for klystrons, and 3) efficient power combiners for use with solid-state power amplifiers in large accelerators.

Compared to klystrons, IOTs have lower losses of energy between pulses or at low input power. However, klystrons may still be improved with new bunching schemes which would extract the RF power from accelerated electron beams more efficiently. In addition, solid state amplifiers can be realised using a single state power combiner, which combine a large number of transistors for higher RF power.

Whilst minimising the initial energy waste is important, so too is identifying how to recover wasted energy, or how to repurpose potential waste for other uses.

Mike Seidel, WP3 Coordinator and head of Accelerator Operation and Development at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), commented, “Energy efficiency and sustainability is becoming an important consideration for modern accelerator based research infrastructures. During EuCARD-2 we found that even matured technologies, such as klystrons, have significant potential for efficiency improvements. At large facilities wasted energy can be used very beneficially for heating purposes, and as the example of ESS shows, the best concepts can be realised if these are included in the planning of a project from the very beginning.”

The members of WP3 Task 2 surveyed 12 accelerator facilities from seven different European countries on their energy consumption and cost as well as cooling and heat recovery methods. The task aimed to obtain an overall understanding of the energy consumption in accelerator facilities and identify beneficial aspects of various set-ups as well as areas requiring improvement.

Both RF and cryogenic systems (the latter of which uses very low temperature liquids for cooling) contribute large levels of energy wastage in the form of heat. Recovering this heat or harnessing its power for additional applications, such as heating treating wastewater, may help further efficiency efforts.

WP3 has identified the need to develop new technology, improve current systems, and pursue methods to recover or repurpose lost energy to ensure the particle accelerators of tomorrow are as efficient as possible.

EuCARD-2

energy

energy efficiency

heat recovery

radiofrequency

issue 21

UK start-up accelerates business with CERN technology

Panagiotis Charitos — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 14:52:56 +0000

UK start-up accelerates business with CERN technology
by Alexandra Welsch (University of Liverpool)

D-Beam founders Prof Carsten Welsch and Dr Alexandra Alexandrova (Image credit: STFC)

Accelerator R&D is a high-tech area and ideal for the development and exploitation of innovative ideas in technical fields, such as for example detectors, cooling technology and high-performance computing. A network of Business Incubation Centres (BICs) of CERN technologies has been established to assist entrepreneurs and small high-tech businesses in taking innovative technologies from technical concept to market reality.

In total, there are nine CERN BICs across Europe. The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) manages the centre in the UK based at Sci-Tech Daresbury and Harwell. The centre combines the incubation experience of STFC with the unique opportunity to access STFC and CERN intellectual property, technologies and expertise.

D-Beam, a start-up company that originates from the Cockcroft Institute/University of Liverpool and focuses on particle beam diagnostics.

Professor Welsch, Head of Physics at the University of Liverpool, founded D-Beam with his colleague Dr Alexandra Alexandrova. He explains: “D-Beam will be able to translate cutting edge research into commercially available tools that will improve our understanding and control of particle beams. Our goal is to measure any kind of particle beam we're given - electrons, antiprotons, protons, heavy ions: whatever beam, whatever energy, our aim is to measure it better than anybody else.”

The company’s first commercial device will be based on a new type of sensors that can monitor the “halo” of particles lost by a beam. Such losses can range from being annoying “noise” in experiments to causing damages to the accelerator.

The new sensors use optical fibres fitted with advanced photo detectors; each time a stray particle crosses a fibre, it creates a light pulse that can be recorded with extreme precision, giving both a high temporal and spatial resolution. The device has been tested at the Australian synchrotron and achieved the best time resolution for this device. In addition, the company offers unique expertise in beam current, position and profile measurements.

Delyth Lloyd, STFC CERN BIC Manager says: “We are delighted to welcome D-Beam to the STFC CERN BIC. It is especially exciting that D-Beam are a spin-out from the Cockcroft Institute and we look forward to supporting their business growth. I'm sure there will be many collaborative opportunities available for them during their time in the BIC and beyond."

The arrival of new beam diagnostic technologies on the market is expected to improve the precision and ease of use of accelerators and light sources.

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Third HiLumi Industry Day in the UK

Panagiotis Charitos — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 14:38:50 +0000

Third HiLumi Industry Day in the UK
by Isabel Bejar Alonso (CERN) and Panos Charitos (CERN)

Lucio Rossi, HL-LHC Project Coordinator, addresses participants at the HiLumi Industry Day (Image: CERN)

The cost of the upgrade, which will be realised within the regular CERN Budget, is estimated to close to 950 MCHF. The study phase of the upgrade started in 2010 and the commissioning phase will finish in 2026. The upgrade phase is crucial not only to be able to exploit fully the physics potential of the LHC, but also to continue to enable operation of the collider beyond 2025.

More than 1.2 km of the present LHC will be replaced, bringing with it new technical infrastructures - a challenge that can only be accomplished with the strong involvement of European industry. Since 2012, HiLumi, the HL-LHC upgrade project, has organized events to connect CERN with potential industrial partners able to handle the specific technical challenges of HL-LHC.

The third edition of the HiLumi Industry Day took place in Warrington, UK (close to Daresbury Laboratory) in May 2017. The two-day event jointly organised by CERN and STFC gathered some 200 participants from 17 European countries. Key engineers and physicists from CERN and STFC presented the technical challenges of the HL-LHC project to the numerous company delegates attending this event.

The face-to-face meetings arranged with the CERN engineers were also a nice opportunity for these companies to learn more about the key components of the HL-LHC upgrade and the upcoming calls for tender. The business to business meetings enhanced the creation of a community of industries wishing to work for large scientific infrastructures. In total, more than 1,000 face to face meetings were organized. The event finished with a visit to the STFC installations at Daresbury.

Industry will have a crucial role within the HL-LHC Project as the main provider of the technologies and the equipment that are required to successfully achieve the goals of this upgrade.

The HL-LHC project will collaborate with different types of industries and businesses to pursue its goals. Knowledge and technology to be developed during the HL-LHC project will make a lasting impact on society. These events allows scientific institutions to find the right industrial partners within our member states on schedule and for the best added value.

For the first time, ESS, ILL, ESO and SKA procurers also participated in the event, as it provided a great opportunity to discover new potential suppliers and to show the increasing global potential of the science market.

In 2018, HL-LHC will participate in the Big Science Business Forum 2018. In 2019 the event will be mainly focus to technical services.

More information on the event, including the technical presentations, are available on Indico event page, and more information on the HL-LHC industrial challenges can be found at the HL-LHC project website.

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QUACO enters into Phase 2

Jennifer Toes — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 14:33:14 +0000

QUACO enters into Phase 2
by Isabel Bejar Alonso (CERN)

QUACO is a Pre Commercial Procurement (PCP) Project (Grant Agreement 689359) with key scope to procure two pilot 3.8 m quadrupole magnets with 90 mm apertures, an integrated gradient of 440 T with 120 T/m in the transverse plane and finally with an operational temperature of 1.9 K.

On 29 September last year, four companies (Antec, Elytt, Sigmaphi and Tesla) obtained a work order for Phase 1. The main milestone of this phase included:

Conceptual Design Report of the magnet covering the results obtained in Phase 1;
Preliminary 2D and 3D CAD model of the magnet;
Conceptual Design Report of the Tooling including Coil fabrication tooling conceptual design and Magnet assembly tooling conceptual design;
Development and Manufacturing plan including detailed plan for phase 2 engineering design.

Evaluators from CEA, CERN, CIEMAT and NCBJ assessed the work produced and all four tenders satisfactorily completed Phase 1.

Each one of the four contractors explored a different conceptual solution demonstrating the strength of the PCP as a method to develop innovative solutions. The summary of the results can be found on the QUACO project website.

On 12 May 2017 the successful tenderers were invited to submit their offers for Phase 2. After the evaluation of the technical and financial offers three tenderers were awarded on 30th June with a contract to execute Phase 2 of the PCP (Antec, Elytt and Sigmaphi). The main milestone of this phase included

Detailed Magnetic and Mechanic design optimisation
Sensitivity analysis toward fabrication
Detailed 2D and 3D CAD manufacturing drawings of the magnet and subcomponents including instrumentation schematics
Detailed 2D and 3D CAD drawings of the manufacturing tooling
Manufacturing and Inspection Plan (MIP)
Mock-ups

This phase is the engineering phase with the first mock-ups and with the complete technical solutions. The three companies have thirteen months ahead of them to demonstrate their capacity to build the future MQYY prototype. The PCP is a competitive procedure and only two of them will receive a work order for phase 3.

Pre-commercial procurement is a unique and novel procurement method in the field of accelerator components, and QUACO aims to demonstrate its full potential for success in this field.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 PCP programme under Grant Agreement no. 689359

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pre commercial procurement

issue 21

From EuCARD-2 to ARIES

Sabrina El Yacoubi — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 14:29:31 +0000

From EuCARD-2 to ARIES
Jennifer Toes (CERN)

ARIES project members attend the kick-off meeting talks at CERN, 4-5^th May 2017 (Image: CERN)

As the particle accelerator R&D project EuCARD-2 comes to an end, its entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit lives on in ARIES, Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society, which kicked off at CERN in May 2017.

EuCARD-2 officially ended its activity in April 2017, after four years of international collaboration between academics and members of industry. The project aimed to connect different European actors in accelerator science, enhance collaboration and concentrate common resources on shared goals.

Mobilising more than 350 people, EuCARD-2 produced a wealth of novel ideas for future accelerators and their energy management and applications. Highlights of the final results include patents and crucial advances in four fields: high-temperature superconductivity, materials for accelerators, superconducting coatings, and high-quality plasma-accelerated beams.

EuCARD-2 results in numbers (Image: CERN)

Building on the knowledge, technology and partnerships established under EuCARD-2, ARIES will bring together 41 participants from 18 European countries, including 7 industrial partners. The project officially launched its four-year activity programme as of 1^st May 2017 and gathered at CERN over 4-5^th May for a kick-off meeting. The project is co-funded via a contribution of €10 million from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme.

The project participants include major European accelerator laboratories, universities, scientific and technical institutes, and industrial partners. This consortium increases the opportunities for international collaboration, knowledge and technology transfer across different fields of scientific research and to society, and puts particular focus on innovation of new technology, with a view to maximising its attractiveness to industry.

This effort ultimately aims to upgrade and enhance current accelerator infrastructures and their related technology, secure the sustainability of accelerator science for the future, and further integrate the accelerator research community in Europe.

The work programme of the project will pay particular attention to developing new accelerator concepts, creating new technology for superconductors and superconducting coatings, and optimising accelerator energy efficiency and thermal management.

The ARIES Coordinator, Maurizio Vretenar (CERN), said, “ARIES is a new major step in collaborative research for particle accelerator R&D. By integrating more countries and more industry and by enhancing innovation, training, access to test facilities and societal applications, the project will have a strong and long-term impact on European science and society.”

Under the ARIES Transnational Access programme, 14 facilities will be made available to researchers for material, magnet, radio-frequency, plasma acceleration, and electron and proton beam testing.

Transnational Access facilities

Developing partnerships with industry and understanding areas of common interest is crucial for transferring knowledge and technology between fields, and ensuring future technologies are viable in the market.

As such, ARIES will organise a series of “Academia meets Industry” events, and will provide of a “Proof of Concept” innovation fund, which will offer researchers the opportunity to develop spin-off technology with societal applications.

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SuShi: a Superconducting Shield Septum

Sabrina El Yacoubi — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 13:32:10 +0000

SuShi: a Superconducting Shield Septum
by Panos Charitos (CERN)

High-energy colliders have time and again proven their potential for making breakthrough discoveries and exploring some of the biggest questions in physics, the most prominent example being the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC in 2013. Given that the time-span from design to construction of an accelerator of this complexity is about 25 years, and to ensure the continuity of CERN's diverse scientific programme, the Future Circular Collider (FCC) Study was launched in 2014 to explore scenarios for post-LHC circular colliders. The unprecedented parameters of this future machine create exciting technological challenges, as it requires novel concepts for many of its key subsystems including the beam injection and extraction.

Given the extremely destructive energy stored in the circulating beams (8.4 GJ, corresponding to the kinetic energy of 24 TGV trains at a speed of 150 km/h), the extraction system is crucial for machine protection, as the beam must be safely disposed in case of any failure, or at the end of an experimental cycle. The extracted beam is first deflected by a fast-pulsed kicker magnet, and then it runs into the high magnetic field region of the static septum magnet, which provides the final, and significant, deflection towards an external beam dump. At the same time this magnet must realize a very low field at the position of the circulating beam. The transition between the two regions must be as thin as possible to reduce the required strength of the upstream kicker system.

A passive superconducting shield can create a zero-field region inside a strong external magnetic field by inducing persistent eddy currents on its surface, automatically arranged in a way to fully cancel the field in its interior (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The SuShi septum principle where the black arrows indicate the shielding currents in the superconductor and the red arrows indicate the magnetic field in the midplane of the device (Image: SuShi/ CERN)

A collaboration between CERN and Wigner Institute for Physics (Budapest, Hungary) was established under the framework of the FCC Study to evaluate the feasibility of this concept in a high-energy accelerator and propose realistic materials and technologies.

Three possible candidates have been selected for the first tests: a bulk MgB₂ tube (Figure 2a), a multilayer helically wrapped GdBCO tape on a copper tube (Figure 2b), and a multilayer NbTi/Nb/Cu sheet. The first prototype was successfully tested in February 2017 at CERN's SM18 facility, and could shield 2.6 T at its surface with a wall thickness of 8.5 mm. This is already a factor of about 2.5 improvement over the Lambertson septa of the LHC.

Tests for the two other prototypes are foreseen for later this year. Once the performance of all three prototypes has been evaluated, the best candidate technology will be chosen for more sophisticated tests and further prototyping.

For more information, visit the project website.

Figure 2a: The MgB₂ prototype (Image: SuShi/ CERN)

Figure 2b: The HTS prototype (Image: SuShi/ CERN)

Figure 3: The SuShi team during the test of the MgB₂ prototype (Image credit: Daniel Barna)

The research group is grateful for the support of the SM18 and the Magnetic Measurements teams, the CERN TE-ABT group and the FCC Study Coordination group.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Commission under the FP7 Research Infrastructures project EUCARD-2, grant agreement no. 312453, and the FCC Study group.

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FCC paves the way for future superconductors

Panagiotis Charitos — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 12:03:38 +0000

FCC paves the way for future superconductors
by Panos Charitos (CERN)

Nb3Sn Rutherford cable for high-field magnets to be used in HL-LHC as well as for future colliders covered by the FCC study (Image: CERN)

The FCC Week 2017 offered a unique opportunity to discuss the program and the on-going activities, for the development of Nb3Sn superconductor for the FCC 16T magnets. In a number of dedicated sessions, scientists and industry representatives came together to discuss targets and work on conductor launched for enabling design of compact and cost-efficient magnet design.

In her opening talk, Amalia Ballarino, Head of CERN’s Superconductors & Superconducting devices section, reported on the challenges associated with the development of a Nb3Sn wire that should have performance exceeding that of present state-of-the-art materials. She also reported on the status and progress of the collaboration agreements (Japan, Korea, Russia) launched by CERN and carried-out in the past year. Specific strategic R&D programs have been launched, in parallel with the on-going production for HL-LHC (Europe and USA). Indeed, both performance and quantity of conductor needed for a potential future FCC machine require a world-wide effort. Three talks from Japan, Korea and Russia followed her presentation and reported on the status of the on-going work. Encouraging results were already presented and discussed. Performance increase is one of the key targets of the 16 T conductor development programme. Ballarino emphasized the importance of developing higher critical current density (J_c) at the target field, i.e. the amount of current that goes through the superconducting part of the wire that represents about 50% of the total cross section.

Ballarino emphasized that the focus at this stage is on the development of Nb3Sn multi-filamentary wires meeting the target performance of 1,500 Amperes/mm² at 16 Tesla and a temperature of 4.2 Kelvin (-268.95 °C). She reported that the cost of the process adopted for the R&D work shall also enable large scale production and achievement of the final target (≤ 5 Euro/kA m) – together with an increased J_c. Presently, the conductor procured from HL-LHC has an average of 1,000 A/mm2, with some samples reaching about 1200 A/mm², and a fundamental development R&D effort has to be done in order reach the goal for FCC.

Another key aspect for the success of the programme is to involve industrial partners from an early stage. From the current experience from LHC and HL-LHC we know that the performance requirements for Nb3Sn conductor for future circular collider are challenging. A large industrial effort is needed to engage the community on performance and feasibility of a potential very large-scale production (thousands of tons of conductor).

Researches from various laboratories come close with tindustry to study new materials and ways to achieve the required goal. Examples of academic activities include the characterization of materials that take place in laboratories and institutes all progressing in a global fashion.

Finally, Ballarino reported that the conductor programme explores also the potential of other still novel superconductors MgB2 and iron based superconductors are part of the study. Though these materials are not mature today for magnet development, they both show some potential and are therefore worth investigating for future applications. Understanding of present limits of MgB2 at high field and potentials of iron based are being carried out via collaborations launched by CERN with SPIN and Columbus. Marina Putti from University of Genova/SPIN discussed the collaboration agreement with CERN concerning the development and characterization of MgB2, Bi-2212 and iron based superconductors. Moreover, Columbus Superconductors studies the production of MgB2 wire optimized for high fields.

Cost reduction is one of the key challenges that was clearly set from the beginning of this program and lies at the centre of the study for a future circular collider. Further work is needed to understand how this goal can be achieved. Clearly, increase of Jc, large billets size, the optimization of the processcost along with the optimization of raw materials that arekey elements for cost optimization.

In addition to increased performance and reduced costs, the feasibility of large production is a main target for the future. As Ballarino mentioned, the FCC-hh baseline scenario would require about 7000-9000 tons while a High Energy LHC would require about 2500 tons. This poses a significant challenge compared to present project where Nb3Sn production is also important like ITER (about 500 tons) and the amount for the foreseen HL-LHC upgrade (25 tons).

In parallel with the development of the conductor, the procurement of about 290 km of Nb3Sn wire is foreseen, to cover the needs of the magnet program from 2018 to 2019. The program will also require an additional 6 tons from 2020 to 2030. For this wires, the target J_c (4. 2K, 16T) is 1200 A/mm²and a minimum J_c (4.2 K, 16T) equal to 1000 A/mm².

FCC Conductor development paves the way for the future. Synergies between magnet designers, superconductor experts, material scientists and industry are required to make the next step. The meeting pointed to that direction by bringing together industrial partners and external laboratories and by encouraging collaborations amongst them.

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International School on Medical Accelerators

Livia Lapadatescu — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 09:40:29 +0000

International School on Medical Accelerators
by Magdalena Klimontowska (University of Liverpool)

Participants at the OMA School on Medical Accelerators (Image credit: CNAO)

Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The number of new cases is expected to rise by about 70% over the next 2 decades (WHO, Cancer Fact Sheet, February 2017).

Although significant progress has been made in the use of particle beams for cancer treatment, extensive research is still needed to maximise healthcare benefits and to assure the best possible cancer treatment for patients.

An international school took place at CNAO (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) in Pavia, Italy in June 2017, gathering 75 delegates from around the world, to discuss the optimization of medical accelerators. The event brought together researchers and students working at the interface between physics and life sciences. Lectures given by renowned scientists covered areas such as beam physics, radiotherapy, medical applications of accelerators and treatment processes, as well as challenges related to beam diagnostics, patient imaging and motion detection. In addition to the lectures there were also study groups, a poster session and a dedicated industry session. The school also featured a tour of the CNAO synchrotron and treatment rooms, guided by local experts, Dr. Monica Necchi and Sergio Gioia who explained the technical details of the facility and the patient treatment process.

Visit of the accelerator facilities at CNAO (Image credit: CNAO)

The event was organized by the Optimization of Medical Accelerators project (OMA). OMA is a European Training Network funded by Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and coordinated by the University of Liverpool.

Professor Carsten P. Welsch, Head of the University of Liverpool’s Department of Physics, is coordinating the OMA network. He says: ”A growing body of clinical evidence shows that there is great potential for proton and ion treatment, particularly for treatment of cancers in children and where tumours are close to vital organs. The goal now is to maximize the therapeutic efficiency while reducing as much as possible the damage to surrounding tissue. This will come through improvements in tumour imaging, beam quality and shaping and a better understanding of the dose and its impact on both, the body and the tumour.”

OMA is a unique collaboration of universities, research institutes, hadron therapy facilities and industry partners to address the challenges in treatment facility design and optimization, numerical simulations for the development of advanced treatment schemes, and in beam imaging and treatment monitoring. The network is built around 15 early stage researchers working on dedicated projects and consists of an international consortium of more than 35 partner organisations. It provides a wide training programme comprising schools, topical workshops and an international conference. Professor Welsch continues: “OMA is a major European initiative in the field of medical applications of accelerators. We offer an interdisciplinary training programme to early stage researchers and promote collaboration between accelerator scientists, oncologists and control system experts to assure the best possible cancer care for patients.”

The school in Italy created an important opportunity for young researchers to gain from the expertise of renowned scientists, and started a series of OMA training events with a School on Monte Carlo Simulations for Medical Applications coming up as the next one, in November 2017.The brand-new brochure of the OMA project was distributed to all School participants. It was launched at the industrial exhibition of IPAC’17 and is now available for download. It presents the individual backgrounds and work done by each Fellow and provides details about the project’s broad research programme, training, outreach and partner institutions.

Fourth meeting on innovative RF technologies

Jennifer Toes — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 07:42:41 +0000

Fourth meeting on innovative RF technologies
by Peter McIntosh (STFC)

Participants of the EuCARD-2 WP12 gathered at NCBJ in Warsaw, Poland (Image: Peter McIntosh)

As EuCARD-2 came to the end of its four-year duration, the Work Package 12 (WP12) Innovative Radiofrequency (RF) Technologies activity held its fourth and final group meeting at the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) in Warsaw, Poland in March 2017.

The group organised previous Annual Meetings at CEA Saclay in France, DESY in Germany, and the STFC Daresbury Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The events aimed to provide specific updates on its areas of activity, which included: Superconducting RF Thin Films, High Gradient Normal Conducting Technologies, Superconducting RF Higher Order Mode Diagnostics, and RF Photocathodes.

The 2017 meeting drew 23 participants from 11 of the 13 collaborating organisations, encompassing representation from the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden. In terms of the diversity balance of the attendees, five (22%) attendees were women and three (13%) were from ethnic minority groups.

It was coordinated by Peter McIntosh (STFC Daresbury Laboratory), who has led the 5M€ WP12 delivery programme since its inception in 2013. The meeting itself was organised by Robert Nietubyć (NCBJ) who provided all of the local logistics.

Professor Krzysztof Kurek addresses participants of the EUCARD-2 WP12 2017 Annual Meeting
(Image: Peter McIntosh)

The event kicked off with an opening address and welcome from the NCBJ Director, Professor Krzysztof Kurek, who placed the capabilities of NCBJ firmly in the context of Innovative RF and accelerator technologies. Peter McIntosh then gave a management overview for the WP12 project as the EuCARD-2 programme comes to an end, before each of the WP12 task leaders presented their respective activity areas.

In the activity focused on SRF Thin films, the first high temperature SRF thin film deposition using Nb3Sn was realised at CERN. In addition, the highest Tc ever reached achieved 17.06K using CVD deposition of NbN by INP Grenoble. A new high precision magnetometry system for larger RF samples was validated at CEA Saclay.

For High Gradient Normal Conducting Technologies, University of Manchester developed an optimised X-band Damped Detuned Structure for the 380 GeV CLIC facility, whilst the first high efficiency ‘Kladistron’ developed by CEA Saclay began fabrication with Thales. Lancaster University also contributed in the development of a new high precision RF distribution system, able to provide ultra-precise timing synchronisation for a pair of CLIC X-band crab cavities.

Regarding the SRF HOM Diagnostics task, the Universities of Rostock and Manchester reported on the optimisation of simulation tools able to model very long linac structures using concatenated analysis and generalised scattering matrix techniques. In addition, the electronics needed to monitor cavity HOM signals have been prototyped and tested on FLASH, and have been implemented on XFEL by DESY.

For the RF Photocathodes activity, STFC has installed a new High Repetition Rate RF gun and cathode exchange system at the CLARA FEL test facility at Daresbury Laboratory. In addition, NCBJ has made optimised lead photocathode surfaces, and their operation was validated by DESY. Furthermore, the performance of magnesium photocathodes was demonstrated at HZDR-Rossendorf.

The local NCBJ organiser also invited the participants to visit the Warsaw Neon Muzeum as well as to tour the NCBJ facilities, including radiotherapy systems developed by NCBJ specialists and provided to commercial organisations.

In the summary of the final WP12 meeting, Peter McIntosh stated that he was tremendously impressed by the depth and breadth of work undertaken over the past four years by the collaborating institutes. The objectives of WP12 to break new ground on RF technologies were certainly ambitious when set-out back in 2013, yet in many areas the teams involved succeeded, laying the groundwork for a long-standing legacy for the international RF and accelerator communities for years to come.

The 2017 EuCARD-2 WP12 Annual Meeting was covered in live time via the ASTeC Twitter account.

ARIES and Industry

Livia Lapadatescu — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 12:53:42 +0000

ARIES and Industry
by Livia Lapadatescu (CERN)

Collaboration between academia and industry has long been a hot topic in many R&D projects, but for the first time in an accelerator Integrating Activity project there is a consistent industrial participation. In ARIES, the new H2020 Integrating Activity on “Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society”, industry has become a crucial partner in achieving common R&D objectives and in identifying and further exploring industrial and societal applications of accelerators.

The ARIES consortium includes eight industrial partners contributing to activities such as the development of accelerator applications, materials for extreme thermal management, HT superconductors, timing electronics, and acting as consultants on the activity of the innovation work package.

The reasoning behind having industry as partners was to provide academia with more information about the market demands, moving from the old “technology push” to a new “market pull” approach. ARIES set two targets for the collaboration with industry: short/medium term goals and long-term goals.

Short & Medium term goals aim to breach the gap of innovation. ARIES proposes three pillars of innovation to achieve these goals:

The Proof of Concept Fund to support perspective studies/projects on industrial application of the ARIES technology;
Academia meets Industry events to encourage the networking between academia and industry on ARIES related subjects;
Projects co-run with industry in the work package on “Promoting Innovation”.

Long term goals aim to create a common language and a common working ground between academia and industry.

Schematic representation of the ARIES collaboration with industry (Credit: Livia Lapadatescu, CERN)

The first ARIES Industrial Meeting took place during the project kick-off meeting on 5 May 2017 at CERN. The meeting brought together about 40 participants, with large industrial participation, to discuss the involvement of industry in ARIES, how to enhance the collaboration with industry, and possible future actions.

A follow-up meeting will be organized in Brussels at the end of 2017 with the aim of collecting success stories for industrial collaboration and innovation from both industry and the European Commission. This will help to identify ways for further industrial involvement in the future Research Infrastructures programmes of the European Commission.

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