Rika Takahashi | 14 July 2011Worrying about blemishes on the skin is not just an issue for people who pursue personal physical beauty, but also for accelerator scientists. Scientists and engineers at KEK have found a way to deal with unwanted stains on the inner surface of superconducting cavities, which might be one of the causes of performance limitation.
Category: Feature | Tagged: electropolishing, KEK, Kyoto camera, superconducting cavity
30 June 2011Junior high school students in the Tsukuba area visited KEK for their school's job experience programme. Here they use a Kyoto camera to look for defects on the inside of an accelerating cavity.
Category: Image of the week | Tagged: camera, KEK, Kyoto camera
23 June 2011In Spring 2011, an electron beam welding (EBW) machine was delivered to Japan from a manufacturer in Germany for building a cavity production test plant on the Tsukuba campus of KEK. This picture shows the electron gun, which was recently placed on top of the EBW vacuum vessel with help from a German engineer.
Category: Image of the week | Tagged: electron beam welding machine, KEK
Hitoshi Yamamoto | 16 June 2011Hitoshi Yamamoto offers a personal account of his navigation through the chaos brought on by shutdowns of transportation systems, electrical grids and running water immediately following the March earthquake. Amid the confusion, he remained mindful of the work of the ILC, resulting in welcome news for detector research.
Category: Research Director's Report | Tagged: earthquake, Japan, JSPS, KEK
Rika Takahashi | 9 June 2011Janice Nelson and Glen White from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the US are the first overseas scientists to visit KEK after the earthquake.
Category: Feature | Tagged: earthquake, KEK, SLAC
2 June 2011Image: Nobuko Kobayashi Kaoru Yokoya reflects on his life as an accelerator scientist at KEK during his retirement talk on 31 May. Yokoya retired from KEK on 31 March. He remains with the ILC as an Asia regional director.
Category: Image of the week | Tagged: Asia Regional Director, KEK
Rika Takahashi | 2 June 2011On 26 May, a first test beam steered through the linac of the Accelerator Test Facility at KEK, Japan, with the same energy as before the March 2011 earthquake. Engineers are now working on the magnet alignment at the beam transportation line.
Category: Around the World | Tagged: ATF, earthquake, KEK, test beam
26 May 2011Image: Nobu TogeAfter repairing some hardware components that were broken in the earthquake of 11 March, the recovery work at ATF is now focusing on fixing the overall hardware alignment using an optical survey technique. This will be followed by recovery of the cooling water, excitation of the magnet and the radiofrequency power, and test beam operation later this month and toward summer 2011.
Category: Image of the week | Tagged: ATF, earthquake, KEK
Rika Takahashi | 26 May 2011Shin-ichi Kurokawa is a mover and shaker in the world of accelerator physics, both excelling in science and effectively bringing the community together to form strong, productive relationships. The European Physical Society has recognized Kurokawa's accomplishments, awarding him the Rolf Widerøe Prize.
Category: Feature | Tagged: accelerator prize, EPS, KEK, Rolf Widerøe Prize
