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King Abdullah II of Jordan officially opens SESAME light source

Jennifer Toes — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 11:51:29 +0000

King Abdullah II of Jordan officially opens SESAME light source
by James Gillies (CERN)

European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, receives a model of a SESAME dipole magnet from CERN Director General, Fabiola Gianotti, and President of the SESAME Council, Chris Llewellyn Smith, during the opening ceremony. The SESAME magnet system was produced under the EU FP7 CESSAMag project, coordinated by CERN (Image credit: CERN).

On a luminous day in May, Jordan’s King Abdullah II unveiled the plaque that symbolically declared the SESAME light source open for science. An intergovernmental organization, SESAME is the first regional light source laboratory for the Middle East and neighbouring countries. The laboratory’s official opening represents a remarkable achievement for the scientists of the region who have nurtured and developed the dream of bringing first-rate science to the Middle East for over 20 years.

“Today sees the fulfilment of many hopes and dreams,” said President of the SESAME Council, Professor Chris Llewellyn Smith, speaking at the opening ceremony. “As well as being a day for celebration, the opening is an occasion to look forward to the science that SESAME will produce.” SESAME ushers in a new era of research covering fields ranging from medicine and biology, through materials science, physics and chemistry to healthcare, the environment, agriculture and archaeology.

SESAME is a third generation light source with a main ring magnet system built in SESAME Members and Observer countries under the EU FP7 CESSAMag project, which was coordinated by CERN. The new ring’s injection system is based on the BESSYI light source, donated by Germany, while its accelerating structures were provided in part by Italy. Commissioning began earlier this year, with the first beam achieving a single turn on 11 January. Milestones were quick to follow, with multiple turns being achieved on 25 January, and a beam being stored on 9 February. The first beam to be accelerated to SESAME’s design energy of 2.5 GeV came in April. At the time of the inauguration, SESAME was routinely storing beams for several hours.

“SESAME is evidence that science diplomacy is a driver of scientific and technological excellence and a powerful tool for improving relations across countries, regions and cultures,” said European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas. “I'm proud that the EU is supporting this important flagship of science diplomacy.” The EU continues to support SESAME through the H2020 Open Sesame project, which will provide a range of training opportunities for SESAME personnel through to the end of 2019.

The next step in the commissioning process is to use the synchrotron radiation emitted by the circulating electron beam to scrub the beam pipe clean of attached gas molecules that limit the beam intensity and lifetime. SESAME’s stored beams are currently operating at 25mA, and the goal is to reach 400mA by mid to late summer. “We expect to have the first light in a beam line by August 2017, said SESAME accelerator physicist Maher Attal. “The first operational beamline will be the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) beamline, and we expect the infrared beamline to be operational soon after.” Among experiments scheduled for the XRF beamline is one that will study heavy metal pollution in the Jordan river valley to help improve public health, while the infrared beamline is suited to work in drug development and cultural heritage studies among others.

“Today we are at the end of the beginning,” said SESAME Director, Professor Khaled Toukan, at the opening ceremony. “Many challenges lie ahead – including building up the user community, and constructing additional beamlines and supporting facilities. However, I am confident that these challenges will be met.”

The opening ceremony marked the end of Professor Llewellyn Smith’s mandate as President of the SESAME Council. He passed the baton to Professor Rolf Heuer, who will Chair the Council through SESAME’s start-up phase.

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CESSAMag delivering impact

Livia Lapadatescu — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 07:43:30 +0000

CESSAMag delivering impact
by Livia Lapadatescu (CERN)

The main objective of the FP7-CESSAMag (CERN-EC Support for SESAME Magnets) project was to support the construction of the SESAME light source in the Middle-East. With financial contribution from the EC, CERN’s main objective was to deliver the magnetic system and its powering scheme for the SESAME main accelerator ring, as well as to support the training of SESAME staff. Completed at the end of 2016, the project fulfilled or exceeded all its objectives.

Scientific and technical impact of CESSAMag

Section of the SESAME Main Accelerator Ring (Image credit: CERN)

Building upon SESAME studies, CESSAMag finalized the requirements and design and produced the engineering and technical drawings of the SESAME magnets and powering scheme. The first main result of CESSAMag is the production of design reports on the combined function bending magnets, on the quadrupole magnets (long and short), on the sextupole magnets with their auxiliary corrector windings and on the powering scheme. These design and engineering study reports were used as background for the technical specifications needed for tendering and can serve as reference for the construction of similar light sources.

During the tendering process, CERN made a special effort to place orders not only with experienced European companies, but also with companies based in some of the SESAME Members (Cyprus, Israel, Pakistan, Turkey), without former experience in accelerator components (except for Israel), but demonstrating potential and motivation. This was achieved through effective knowledge transfer from CERN and generated potential commercial impact in the companies trained.

All magnets successfully passed the acceptance tests at either ALBA-CELLS or CERN and their measured field quality and reproducibility from magnet to magnet are excellent, making them a reference for similar synchrotrons. Therefore, a key result of CESSAMag is the string of magnets forming the SESAME storage ring, composed of:

16 combined function bending magnets (dipole + quadrupole)
64 quadrupoles of two types: 32 long focusing and 32 short defocusing quadrupoles
64 sextupole/correctors

CESSAMag also contributed to the production of an improved magnet powering scheme: rather than procuring power supplies adapted to each kind of magnet, another approach was proposed by CERN, based on light source standards (PSI), which allows individual powering of quadrupoles and simplified maintenance by plug-and-play modules by standardizing interfaces. With this strategy, SESAME benefits from a powering strategy more powerful, flexible and robust than initially foreseen.

Following the decision to procure some components from companies based in the SESAME Members and thanks to the in-kind contribution of Pakistan, offering the assembly of 50% of the sextupoles, CESSAMag managed to deliver a more powerful and complete magnetic system and reduce the financial share that SESAME was due to contribute to the project.

Finally, CESSAMag contributed to the magnet integration and commissioning, with the goal of making SESAME fully in control of the equipment delivered by CERN.

The first beam was circulated in the SESAME main accelerator ring on 11 January 2017 and it was stored and accumulated up to 20mA in mid-February. The next step is ramping the beam and completing the RF stations and final acceleration assessment expected before the end of summer. The inauguration ceremony of the SESAME light source will take place in mid-May with the foreseen presence of high-ranking officials from SESAME Members and Observers. The first user experiments are foreseen to start in Q3.

Political and social impact of CESSAMag

A significant aspect showcasing the socio-economic impact of CESSAMag is the knowledge transfer to companies from SESAME Members and training of SESAME staff. The duration of training to staff, engineers and companies from SESAME Members amounts to about 90 person-months and the CERN personnel effort in training and knowledge transfer amounts to 16 person-months.

In the context of CESSAMag, international collaborations and agreements were established between CERN and SESAME and CERN and ALBA-CELLS; implementation agreements were formed with PAEK (Pakistan), TAEK (Turkey) and ILSF (Iran) and an informal collaboration with IAEA, which provided financial support for training and experts’ visits between CERN and SESAME. These collaborations and agreements illustrate the international and science diplomacy dimensions of the project.

Furthermore, the European Union acknowledged the science diplomacy impact of CESSAMag and made further steps in support of SESAME. Since 2015, the EU is an Observer in the SESAME Council and the EC decided to further support the training of SESAME users and staff in the framework of the OPEN SESAME (Opening Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) H2020 “Policy and international cooperation measures for research infrastructures” project.

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This article is based on the Project Final Report.

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Moedas on SESAME and science diplomacy

Jennifer Toes — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 15:46:19 +0000

Carlos Moedas on the importance of SESAME as a model for science diplomacy
by Livia Lapadatescu (CERN)

EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, during his visit to SESAME in Jordan, April 2015. (Image credit: 2015-2016 CERN)

At the 28^th SESAME Council held in May 2016 in the premises of the European Commission, the EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, gave an introductory talk on SESAME as an example of cooperation in the Middle East through science diplomacy.

SESAME, as a model of scientific cooperation in the Middle East, is part of the European Union priority to ensure that European Research and Innovation are “Open to the World” and was an inspiration for the book on Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World – a vision for Europe, published by DG Research and Innovation in May 2016. Science diplomacy has been one of the priorities of Commissioner Moedas and three science diplomacy pillars have been set up: (i) building bridges and improving international relations; (ii) addressing global challenges through sound scientific advice; (iii) embracing globalization through enhanced STI cooperation. For example, Carlos Moedas gave the initiative of FP7 CESSAMag project as an example and a trigger, and his visit to CERN and the CESSAMag laboratory in January 2015 was the beginning of the first pillar with SESAME bridging divides in the Middle East.

In the framework of this first pillar historical agreements were signed associating some countries to Horizon 2020, such as Ukraine and Tunisia in 2015 and Armenia and Georgia in 2016. Another example of a bridge-building activity is the PRIMA initiative (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area), a cooperation in the Mediterranean region, bringing neighbours at odds together, on how to ensure the sustainable provision of vital resources such as water and food.

In the context of the second pillar, a high-level group of seven scientific experts for scientific advice on specific policy issues in Europe was set up. In addition, a Science4Refugees programme was launched to help refugees with a science background find suitable jobs in universities and research institutions in the EU.

With respect to the third pillar, progress has been made towards the creation of a Global Research Area based on the development of a Common Research Area for the EU, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This has been manifested by the decision of the 28 EU member states to make scientific papers freely available by 2020 or the setting-up co-funding mechanisms with China and Mexico.

To conclude, the EC Commissioner, informed participants that €2M had been earmarked for SESAME in the 2016-2017 Horizon 2020 Work Programme and stressed the fact that he has become emotionally involved in this project and would continue to be the SESAME Ambassador and an advocate on scientific cooperation in the Middle East through SESAME.

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FP7 CESSAMag: building industrial relations with SESAME members

Panagiotis Charitos — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 11:36:56 +0000

FP7 CESSAMag: building industrial relations with SESAME members
By Jean-Pierre Koutchouk & Livia Lapadatescu (CERN)

The goal of SESAME is to join forces in the Middle East and beyond, to build a synchrotron light source of excellence, attracting scientists from the region, including those already working at other such facilities in the world. In line with this international endeavour, the CERN engineers involved in the FP7 CESSAMag project in support of SESAME considered the possibility of procuring some components from companies based in the SESAME Members. Having extensive experience in carrying out quality control when buying from industry, CERN could take the challenge of procuring from companies without former accelerator experience, by providing appropriate knowledge transfer.

CESSAMag magnets being installed at SESAME. (Image credit: SESAME)

Identifying potential companies from SESAME members was, however, a challenge. In Cyprus, for example, a company was found through the Chamber of Commerce, while a Turkish company was identified at an industrial fair. Both companies had no previous experience in producing accelerator components, but, after an assessment, were found to have the potential to do it. By placing a pilot order first, CERN could test the components and ensure that they were produced at the highest standards for SESAME (all the components, in particular the magnets, were highly customized for SESAME, as is the case for most accelerators, and were not off the shelf products). In the end, the Turkish company built the quadrupole coils, while the Cyprus company assembled half of the sextupoles (33 magnets). The assembly of the other half was donated by Pakistan, who sent an expression of interest to assemble the sextupoles against a knowledge transfer from CERN. Except for the dipole, “the power supplies of the quadrupoles and sextupoles were bought from a well-established power supply company from Israel.

Another challenge in this industrial endeavour was the logistics behind the shipping of the various components, involving in particular maritime transport – to Pakistan, Cyprus and Jordan. Besides a proper conditioning of the crates to avoid damages, the various transit times, including customs clearance, had to be properly considered to meet the overall schedule.

Map of CESSAMag partners

Along with the industrial return for companies themselves (some of them now interested to participate in call for tenders with CERN or to continue producing accelerator components), the members involved have also welcomed the industrial collaboration with CERN.

The strategy chosen by CESSAMag to build industrial ties with SESAME members, in addition to purchasing accelerator components from experienced companies in Europe is yet another example of science diplomacy advanced by the project.

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FP7 CESSAMag and science diplomacy

Jennifer Toes — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 14:55:02 +0000

FP7 CESSAMag and science diplomacy
By Jennifer Toes & Livia Lapadatescu (CERN)

Visit to CERN by Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (Image: CERN)

The CESSAMag project has achieved key milestones this year, with the delivery of the magnets and power converters for the SESAME synchrotron light source in Jordan and the support for the installation and alignment of the first cell (consisting of magnets, vacuum chamber and a girder) in its final position (see video below).

Installation of SESAME’s Storage Ring Begins (Video: SESAME)

The installation of the first storage ring cell in February of this year heralds more than simply the next stage of construction in this scientific project. Indeed, SESAME will be the Middle East’s first major international research centre, and is the result of collaboration between its nine members in the Middle East and neighbouring countries on the model of CERN.

The road to a first international major scientific infrastructure serving the scientists of the region is a challenge, especially for researchers and institutions based in regions affected by particular political and cultural tensions. Several synchrotron laboratories in the world, international organizations and learned societies have given support to the SESAME members for this venture. FP7 CESSAMag is specific in that it combines science and diplomacy with the participation of CERN and the European Commission.

As part of the CESSAMag project, the dipoles, quadrupoles and sextupoles for SESAME were produced in Spain, UK, Cyprus and Pakistan. Switzerland, Italy and Israel provided the controllers and power supplies, while the coils for quadrupoles and sextupoles were produced in Turkey and France. This large participation, including companies in SESAME members, was allowed by ordering parts for the quadrupoles and sextupoles, rather than complete magnets. The coordination was provided by CERN experienced engineers, and led to outstanding products.

Fostering further science diplomacy, CERN also welcomed engineers and technicians from Iran, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey to work on the design, production and testing of the power supplies, power supply racks and magnets assembly as part of the CESSAMag project.

Originally from Turkey, Evrim Onur Ari came to CERN as an Electronics Engineer in 2014 to work as part of the Storage Ring Magnet Power Supplies Team.

“I really got excited when I learned the details of it” says Onur Ari, explaining why the project appealed to him. “[It is] a science collaboration between countries which were counted as political rivals. The biggest motivation behind this collaboration was peace.”

This sentiment was shared by Ehsan Yousefi, an Electronics Engineer and Head of the Power Supply group at the Iranian Light Source Facility (ILSF) who came to CERN for seven months in 2015:

“Besides scientific achievements and improving skills in power supply design, I could learn how to live abroad, face new challenges and experience a different lifestyle where different cultures are respectful towards one another.”

Iranian researchers in particular have felt the impact of the sanctions against Iran. Javad Rahighi, Professor of Experimental Physics and Director of the ILSF commented “On the example of CESSAMag, we would like to see SESAME and other collaborations utilising the expertise already existing in Iran."

Indeed, science diplomacy not only hopes to foster peace between nations, but provide the conditions to facilitate the flow of skills and information between them.

“Being involved in this project gave me a general view about specifications and design of dedicated power supplies” said Ehsan, noting his experience may now be utilised in his work at the ILSF.

In addition, Azhar Nawaz, a Mechanical Engineer working in Pakistan, notes that his company’s experience of manufacturing magnets for SESAME has given them the experience to participate in future CERN tenders and other projects.

Of course, due to the nature of science diplomacy the potential challenges for researchers extend beyond the technical. Whilst Azhar Nawaz states that assembling the sextupole magnets was a “very challenging job as magnet manufacturing was a new field” for his team, Evrim Onur Ari notes a further challenge of working internationally due to differing cultural practices: “Sunday is counted as a part of weekdays in Jordan, whereas it is a part of the weekend in European countries; the reverse is true for Friday. We had effectively four days in common during the week."

Indeed, whilst many international collaborations must overcome the impact of time zones, differences in the working week of different countries pose a further hurdle still, as despite both teams working full time, the potential days for collaboration are reduced.

The FP7 CESSAMag project has been acknowledged by the SESAME Council as a major influencing factor to its continued progression, and hopefully will be one of many efforts in the name of science diplomacy that allow excellence in physics and peace to go hand in hand.

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Bending magnet for SESAME storage ring

Livia Lapadatescu — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 09:27:03 +0000

Bending magnet for SESAME storage ring
by Attilio Milanese (CERN)

The first SESAME dipole on the magnetic measurement bench at ALBA
Image credit: CERN

The CESSAMag project has reached an important milestone with the first unit tests of the bending magnets.

The bending units (dipoles) are the largest magnets of the SESAME storage ring – each dipole weighs 6.5 tons and is 2.5 m long. These massive components need precise mechanical construction – down to a few tens of microns – to meet the requirements on magnetic field quality and alignment. In addition, the design involves a superposition of dipolar and quadrupolar fields, and an excitation range going into a saturated nonlinear regime. All this made the characterization of the first magnet a critical milestone in the overall project.

CERN is responsible for the design, procurement and test of these 17 dipoles, within the CESSAMag project, largely funded by the EU. Within this framework, CERN has placed a contract with TESLA (UK) for manufacturing the magnets, and is collaborating with ALBA synchrotron (Spain) who provides in kind contribution for carrying out the magnetic measurements.

The test campaign on the first dipole last December fully confirmed the design: the measured magnetic field was in all cases very consistent with the simulations, and in particular the field in the aperture – where eventually the electron beam will circulate - was uniform down to 1∙10^-4. This challenging target could only be met with both careful design and proper mechanical assembly by the manufacturer.

The production of the rest of the series is now progressing well in the UK, and 4 more magnets are already in Spain for measurements. In the meantime, the first dipole has been shipped to CERN, where it was used for a full integration check of a SESAME cell, including quadrupoles, sextupoles, the girder support structure and the vacuum chamber.

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Powering strategy of SESAME magnets

Margarita Synanidi — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 10:05:59 +0000

Powering strategy of SESAME magnets
by Livia Lapadatescu, Agnes Szeberenyi with Miguel Cerqueira Bastos (CERN)

The power converter team with the first of 10 pallets that arrived at CERN with all the quadrupole power supplies (focusing and defocusing) and with the focusing sextupole power supplies. Credits: CERN and SESAME

The magnet system with its power supplies are a major component of the SESAME light source main storage ring. The main objective of the power supplies activity under the collaboration between CERN, European Commission and SESAME is to define the powering strategy and deliver the power converters and corresponding control elements to SESAME. This includes specifications, procurement and testing of all power and control components.

In the last three months, the Magnet Power Supplies activity of the CESSAMag project has seen some major milestones achieved. After reviewing the typical powering requirements of modern light sources and understanding the main differences with respect to high-energy particle accelerators, the CERN and SESAME team devised a powering strategy focused on providing flexibility and performance whilst minimizing machine downtime and facilitating maintenance procedures. This strategy was approved by both CERN and SESAME Technical Committees. It relies on the use of an existing, “proven in use”, control system to run commercial power supplies, which in the case of the quadrupoles are off-the-shelf products. With this strategy SESAME has full control over the performance of the current loop and benefits from the standardization of the control electronics. The use of commercial power supplies, easily and quickly replaceable, also improves maintenance and spare management.

The interface and DAC board, developed by the power converter team. Credits: CERN and SESAME

The control solution described above led to the decision of using the latest power supply controller from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). The CESSAMag team is the first to integrate the new generation of the PSI controller in the powering system of another light source.

The powering of the magnets in the SESAME main storage ring will be done in series for the dipole and sextupole magnets and individually for the other magnet types. The individual powering of quadrupoles was not originally foreseen and it was adopted to achieve increased flexibility, following discussions with experts from other light sources. The 8 magnet types (dipole, focusing quadrupole, defocusing quadrupole, focusing sextupole, defocusing sextupole, V-correctors, H-correctors, skew quads) require 6 different types of power supplies.

All the power supplies for the quadrupole and corrector magnets as well as the PSI electronics for the control system and the gateways have been delivered to CERN. Testing of all these elements will now start at CERN and they will be delivered and integrated into the SESAME system mid-2015.

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First pre-series sextupole for the SESAME storage ring

Margarita Synanidi — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:07:44 +0000

First pre-series sextupole for the SESAME storage ring
by Attilio Milanese (CERN)

First SESAME sextupole pre-series undergoing magnetic measurements in the ISR tunnel at CERN. The electric and hydraulic connections are in test configuration. Image credit: CERN

In November 2013, CERN has completed the first assembly of a pre-series sextupole for the SESAME storage ring, within the CESSAMag European project. This is indeed the first magnet for the new synchrotron light source in construction in Jordan.

The magnetic design of the sextupole has been finalized at CERN on the basis of the initial proposal of SESAME. The compact magnet is actually multi-purpose, incorporating – on top of the main sextupolar field – three correctors, namely the horizontal / vertical dipole and a skew quadrupole. Since the aperture (75 mm diameter) is comparable to the length (iron length 100 mm), the optimization of the pole tip geometry was carried out directly in 3D. A peculiar feature from the magnetic viewpoint is the unconventional choice of avoiding any end pole chamfering, while still minimizing the first allowed harmonic. This was obtained by introducing a careful bias in the 2D design, that cancels out in 3D due to edge effects. This simplifies the manufacture without compromising on the field quality. Indeed a magnetic measurement on the pre-series confirmed the simulations, with a first allowed harmonics of 0.4∙10-4 at a reference radius of 24 mm.

This pre-series sextupole validates the design and opens the way for the 64 units needed for the SESAME storage ring. Contracts for the main components are on-going in Europe, whereas for the final assembly and testing options in Cyprus and Pakistan are currently being finalized.

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First industry magnet for SESAME storage ring

Margarita Synanidi — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 08:58:29 +0000

First industry magnet for SESAME storage ring
by Attilio Milanese (CERN)

   Fig1: View of the first series SESAME sextupole from the correctors connection side.
   Image credit: CNE Technology Center

In July 2014, a sextupole corrector magnet for the SESAME storage ring arrived at CERN for tests and magnetic measurements. It is the first unit out of 32 to be delivered by CNE Technology Center, a Cypriot based company under the EU-CERN CESSAMag project.

In November last year, a pre-series sextupole for SESAME was prepared at CERN, to check the design and to tune the manufacturing procedures before placing the order for the series production to industry. The contracts were then awarded to a Cypriot and a Pakistani company. The CERN team has been working closely with both companies to transfer the knowledge from CERN needed to build these magnets.

The first unit out of the 32 magnets from Cyprus has already arrived and was tested at CERN. Measurements carried out at CERN together with SESAME colleagues on this magnet show a very precise assembly, resulting in magnetic field homogeneity of 0.2‰ within 2/3 of the aperture. The unit is also mechanically, electrically and hydraulically sound, assuring good reliability during operation. This makes the magnet apt for the lattice of a synchrotron light source such as SESAME and it is a major step in preparing the SESAME storage ring.

The Cypriot company has in parallel also assembled more than 50% of the components needed for the rest of the contract. At this point the first magnet from Pakistan is currently being assembled.

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