accelerating-news-arc.web.cern.ch - TIARA

A growing market for accelerator personnel in Europe

Sabrina El Yacoubi — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 14:31:37 +0000

A growing market for accelerator personnel in Europe
by Philip Burrows (JAI, University of Oxford)

Reported skills shortages (number of institutes) vs. area of expertise. Click to enlarge. Image credit: TIARA.

The findings are revealing: an overall growth of 18% in personnel is projected over the next 5 years, driven largely by the construction of new facilities on this timescale. However a majority of respondents report difficulties in hiring suitable personnel, most notably engineers, and skills shortages are reported in a number of critical areas.

In 2011 the members of TIARA Work Package 5 “Education & Training” (WP5) conducted a survey of provision of accelerator science training across Europe which revealed some interesting facts (see Accelerating News issue 2). In our follow-on survey we have attempted to gauge the market needs for accelerator-related personnel by surveying major customers: laboratories, universities, companies and medical facilities that design, build or operate accelerators. We assessed the types, numbers, and qualification levels of required personnel, as well as issues of recruitment and skills shortages. The response was outstanding: 70 research institutes and 44 companies from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom completed the survey, accounting for more than 4500 personnel engaged in accelerator-related activities. The findings are described in full in the Needs for Accelerator Scientists report released recently.

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issue 5

Uppsala University and TIARA highlighting RF power generation for accelerators

Sabrina El Yacoubi — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 11:25:27 +0000

Uppsala University and TIARA highlighting RF power generation for accelerators
by Tord Ekelof (Uppsala University) and Celine Tanguy (CEA)

Fig 1 left: Poster of the TIARA workshop on RF power generation for accelerators. Image credit: Uppsala University.
Fig 2 right: Inauguration of the FREIA hall in Angstrom laboratory with Eva Akesson, vice chancellor of Uppsala University, Tord Ekelof, director of FREIA department, Mats Lindroos, head of the ESS Accelerator Division, and Roy Aleksan, TIARA-PP coordinator. Image credit: Uppsala University.

The 2nd industry workshop sponsored by TIARA took place on 17-19 June at the Angstrom laboratory in Uppsala University. The event, dedicated to novel concepts for RF power generation for accelerators, was also the occasion to inaugurate the hall of FREIA (Facility for Research Instrumentation and Accelerator Development) Laboratory.

For the 3-day workshop, about 90 experienced researchers and leading companies in the field of RF power generation and related technologies gathered to explore the technical challenges emerging from the design of new accelerators and to match them with state-of-the-art industrial solutions for RF power generation.

An overview of the main types of accelerator projects and their different RF power generation schemes was first presented, followed by sessions focussed on electron tube devices, solid-state amplifiers and phase-stability and timing

On 18 June the conference participants attended the inauguration of the new FREIA laboratory in Uppsala, intended for research and development of RF power generation, distribution and control for superconducting and normal conducting accelerating cavities for future accelerators. It is the key infrastructure required for developing the superconducting accelerating technology needed for future very high intensity proton accelerators, new free electron lasers and other emerging accelerator projects

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Mid-point of the TIARA Preparatory Phase

Margarita Synanidi — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 10:18:12 +0000

Mid-point of the TIARA Preparatory Phase
by Celine Tanguy (CEA)

TIARA general mid-term meeting in Madrid on June 14th (click image to enlarge) Image credit: TIARA

Held at CIEMAT in Madrid on June 12-14, the TIARA general mid-term meeting marked the end of the first half of the three-year TIARA-PP project.

Various topics were showcased from within the project. From the organisational Work Packages: the infrastructure web-based database (WP3), the identification of the Key Areas for the TIARA R&D programme (WP4) and the results of education and training survey (WP5) were highlighted. The technical Work Packages (WP6 to WP9) provided details about the new world record vertical emittance in the Swiss Light Source storage ring, progress on the MICE RF system at the ITCF, C-band acceleration achievements at the SPARC facility and design of a multi MW irradiation facility for complex target testing.

During the meeting, a status of the EuCARD and ESS projects were presented as well as an overview of R&D and accelerator infrastructures in Spain, the involvement of the Spanish industrial sector for accelerator R&D and finally the role of the Research Infrastructures in Horizon 2020.

A Governing Council meeting, including the Steering Committee members, followed the general meeting.

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Accelerators in the European Strategy for Particle Physics meeting in Cracow

Margarita Synanidi — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 08:56:42 +0000

Accelerators in the European Strategy for Particle Physics meeting in Cracow
by Frank Zimmermann (CERN), Roy Aleksan (CEA)

Open Symposium on the European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP2012). Image credit: CERN

From 10 to 12 September 2012 about 500 particle physicists and accelerator experts came together in Cracow, Poland, at an Open Symposium organized by the CERN Council to discuss the future European strategy. The Symposium’s Accelerator Science and Technology Session featured two excellent overview talks, on the energy frontier by Caterina Biscari (INFN-LNF) and on the intensity frontier by Mats Lindroos (ESS, on leave from CERN), which were complemented by a lively discussion.

The smooth operation of the LHC represents a huge success. The measures needed to raise the LHC collision energy up to 13-14 TeV by 2014 are at hand. Work is progressing on the technology for the LHC luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC) around 2020. Increasing further the collision energy up to 26-33 TeV in the LHC tunnel requires substantial R&D for 16-20 T magnets (HE-LHC). A new 80-km tunnel could allow reaching energies of 80-100 TeV in proton-proton collisions.

Great progress in the SRF development for the ILC makes the construction of a high-energy lepton collider possible. CLIC with two-beam technology could be an alternative if 3 TeV is needed but R&D is still required. A lower-energy CLIC based on klystrons is also proposed. A number of new ideas for circular or gamma-gamma colliders, to study a “Higgs” particle at 125 GeV have also emerged. Much higher energy using leptons requires muon colliders, dielectric RF structures or plasma acceleration, with increasing complexity. High-power proton linacs, such as ESS and IFMIF, are under construction. Neutrino beams will be improved worldwide.

Many R&D topics are common for various accelerators, e.g. high-field magnets, RF structures & RF power sources, particle sources, alignment & stabilization. The conference brought together experts from these areas, highlighting the need to promote further collaborations with other fields of science.

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Accelerators for Society

Margarita Synanidi — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 13:51:04 +0000

Accelerators for Society
by Celine Tanguy (CEA)

Did you know that among the more than 26,000 particle accelerators currently in use worldwide, only 1% is used for research? Particle accelerators are vital instruments for both fundamental and applied research but they are also involved in a broad range of applications. A new brochure initiated within the TIARA preparatory phase invites readers to discover how accelerators benefit society.

Click here to have a look on the Accelerators for Society brochure.

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Accelerator Applications

issue 4

Superconducting Technologies for the Next Generation of Accelerators

Margarita Synanidi — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 13:03:52 +0000

Superconducting Technologies for the Next Generation of Accelerators
by Marina Giampietro (CERN), Lucio Rossi (CERN), Agnes Szeberenyi (CERN)

Fig1: High Luminosity LHC will rely on cutting-edge 13 Tesla superconducting magnets, very compact and ultra-precise superconducting cavities for beam rotation, and 300-metre-long high-power superconducting links with zero energy dissipation. Image credit: CERN

CERN, in collaboration with TIARA and HiLumi LHC European FP7 projects, organized the Workshop on Superconducting Technologies for Next Generation of Accelerators at the Globe of Science and Innovation on 4th and 5th December, 2012.

The 2-day event focused on key areas such as the development of high- and low-field superconducting magnets, superconducting cavities, cryostats and superconducting links.

The workshop was the one of a series of initiatives at CERN aimed at connecting research infrastructures, facing specific technical challenges, with potential commercial partners, for R&D collaborations and knowledge exchange. More than 100 specialists, about half from industry and half from research laboratories and institutes, met to exchange information on: technologies, processes, materials, facilities, work organization and training of next generation engineers and technicians. In the workshop talks form HiLumi LHC, TIARA and ESS were complemented by presentations and booth stands from companies in forefront research of superconductivity.

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R&D on C-band accelerators

Margarita Synanidi — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:35:40 +0000

R&D on C-band accelerators
by David Alesini (INFN-LNF) and Marica Biagini (INFN-LNF)

Fig1: Breakdown rates as measured at different field values before and after conditioning of the SPARC C-Band prototype. After processing, about 50 MV/m accelerating field has been reached, with a breakdown rate (BDR) per meter of the order of 10-6, which is a very good result in such structures. Image credits: INFN-LNF
Fig2: SPARC C-Band structure in the oven before brazing. Image credits: INFN-LNF

The use of Radio-Frequency C-Band accelerating structures for electron acceleration and production of high quality beams has been recently proposed and adopted in several linac projects all over the world.

Two important FEL projects have adopted such type of structures: the Japanese FEL project at SPring-8 and the Swiss-FEL project at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Even if this technology is less known with respect to the more consolidated S-Band one, beam dynamics calculations and experimental measurements demonstrated the possibility to reach high beam quality and higher gradients, making the C-Band technology very appealing from this point of view. Possibilities to use C-Band structures for hadron therapy are also under study from several years and seem to be very promising.

In the SPARC photo-injector facility at the INFN Frascati National Laboratories (LNF, Italy) an R&D programme on C-Band structures is being carried out in order to upgrade the beam energy from 150 to more than 250 MeV in the facility. Involving both LNF and PSI, this programme is performed within the High Gradient Acceleration (HGA) Work Package of the TIARA Preparatory Phase.

The choice of the C-Band for the energy upgrade was dictated by the opportunity to achieve a higher accelerating gradient, enabled by the higher frequency, and to explore C-Band acceleration combined with a S-Band injector that, from beam dynamics simulations, looks very promising. The energy upgrade of SPARC will be done by replacing one low gradient S-Band accelerating structure with two C-Band structures.

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Irradiation facility for target testing

Margarita Synanidi — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 08:35:27 +0000

Irradiation facility for target testing
by Karel Samec (CERN), Yoann Fusco (CERN), Yacine Kadi (CERN)

Fig 1 left: Compact irradiation device developed at CERN within TIARA WP9. Image credits: TIARA/CERN.
Fig 2 right: Sample holder (one half) with sample loading mechanism. Image credits: TIARA/CERN.

In TIARA Work Package 9, the team led by scientists and engineers from CERN are developing a compact irradiation device. This installation is a key infrastructure for the accomplishment of the R&D programme that is required to enable the construction of EURISOL, the next generation facility for the production of very intense radioactive ion beams (RIB), and also for other projects such as the European Spallation Source (ESS) or the development of Accelerator Driven Systems with the MYRRHA project.

The compact irradiation device is shown in Fig. 1. The target shown in the detail can absorb a 100 kW proton beam and, through spallation of a dense liquid metal flowing inside, releases a high-density hard neutron flux in a volume which can accommodate various experimental devices. One such device is shown in Fig. 2 and illustrates how tensile specimens may be remotely stress-tested using a robust mechanical system, whilst being bombarded by the proton beam and the neutrons released by the spallation of dense liquid metal flowing around the samples.

Evidently the setup can be used to test medical applications, nuclear instrumentation or any other type of device for which a high density neutron field is required. The entire apparatus is housed within a cube 1.5m on a side, for easy transport. Disassembly and treatment of the waste is facilitated by the development of a compact heat exchanger which mechanically separates the primary from the secondary loop.

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Demonstration of RF drive system for MICE achieved

Margarita Synanidi — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 08:15:39 +0000

Demonstration of Rf drive system MICE achieved
By Kevin Ronald (University of Strathclyde), Andrew Moss (Daresbury Lab), Ken Long (Imperial College) for the MICE Collaboration

Fig 1: The triode amplifier under test. The connections are a) the HT feedline, (b) output 9 inch coaxial line, (c) input 3 inch line. Image credit: TIARA/MICE.
Fig 2: Power meter display showing peak pulsed power. Image credit: TIARA/MICE.

Ionisation cooling is required to reduce the emittance of a muon beam rapidly for application in future accelerators for neutrino factories and muon colliders. Under Work Package 7 of the TIARA-PP project, Daresbury Lab in collaboration with Rutherford Appleton Lab, Strathclyde University and Imperial College has developed the RF drive system and distribution network for the International Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE).

Each of the 8 MICE cavities demand 1 MW of power at 201.25 MHz in 1ms pulses for a gradient of 8 MV/m. Strong magnetic fields mean the space for the RF drive system is constrained requiring a complex routing to the cavities. Four compact amplifier chains are used to meet these requirements. A signal generator drives a Solid State Power Amplifier (4 kW) feeding a Photonis 4616 tetrode valve amplifier (250 kW) and a Thales 116 triode valve amplifier (2 MW). A complex power supply has been developed to supply and protect the valve amplifiers. Due to the complex and delicate nature of the system, it has been progressively brought to full bias voltage (36 kV on the triode). At these settings the prototype system recently demonstrated the required output parameters. Outstanding support from e2v technologies thyratron section is gratefully acknowledged.

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Accelerators for Society is live now

Margarita Synanidi — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 14:46:44 +0000

Accelerators for Society is live now
by Daniel Potter (STFC) and Celine Tanguy (CEA)

Click here to visit www.accelerators-for-society.org. Image credit: TIARA.

Visit the recently launched www.accelerators-for-society.org website to learn more on applications of particle accelerators.

First developed almost a century ago for fundamental physics research, particle accelerators now have a very large number of applications, from the well-known applications such as cancer treatment and the production of semiconductors for the electronics industry, to the lesser-known applications such as improving the taste of chocolate and the treatment of water supplies.

The website www.accelerators-for-society.org has been developed as part of the TIARA preparatory phase and outlines many applications of particle accelerators in areas such as Research and Development, Health, Medicine, Industry, Energy, Environment and beyond, showing just how much society benefits from particle accelerators.

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Accelerator Applications

issue 7