The lure of particle physics was strong with Amanda Steinhebel in 2016, when she was just starting as a doctoral student at the University of Oregon in the United States. It was halfway through her first year of grad school, and she was trying to convince herself that it was better to pursue research in […]
From the world to America: seeding superconducting accelerator technology through the ILC
The superconducting technology at the heart of the future International Linear Collider is one of the outstanding innovations of the machine’s design. Of international heritage, ILC-type superconducting acceleration has borne American offspring, including technology for the newest kid on the block, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s light source LCLS II, scheduled to begin operations in late […]
From Fermilab Today: Fermilab’s new cavity temperature mapping system commissioned
Doing the cryomodule shuffle
Fermilab completes CM1 run, soon to install CM2
Fermilab researchers will soon take a quantum step towards the realisation of an ILC-type cryomodule. Next week the newly assembled cryomodule RFCA002, familiarly referred to as CM2, will replace CM1 in the Advanced Superconducting Test Accelerator at the laboratory’s NML test facility. The change-out is a rung up on the R&D ladder, and not only […]
Triple milestone for Cornell’s ERL programme
Almost invariably, when superconducting accelerator cavities undergo performance tests, they present a dual personality that leaves researchers scratching their heads. When the niobium structure is stood upright (on a test stand), its quality factor mimics its posture – it measures high. But when the same cavity is placed horizontally in a cryomodule, its quality factor […]
SLAC P2 Marx ramps up reliability
Last month scientists at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, US, ran tests on their latest power generator prototype. It met ILC specifications, delivering 140 amps of current at 120 kilovolts. But the real test, the test of endurance, is still thousands of hours of run time away. Researchers are developing the SLAC P2 Marx modulator, the […]
The incredible shrinking pixel sensor
Inside your pocket-sized mobile device, there likely sits a Lego-brick-sized camera inside of which lies a thumbnail-sized sensor. The sensor, sliver though it is, is on its way to being smaller. ILC researchers have been developing more compact pixel sensors, similar to those in cell-phone cameras, for detecting particle showers. The sensor’s diminished size is […]
1-TeV beam shapes up
The popular understanding of a particle beam as a threadlike one-dimensional strand of energy isn’t wrong, but from the point of view of accelerator scientists, it’s a bit simplistic. Particle beams are nearly always carefully formed structures, especially in the space surrounding the point of their collision. Pinched here, stretched there, particle beams are crafted […]
Pushing technology, expanding industry
PAVAC Industries has a way with electron beams, and with the help of a boost developing superconducting radiofrequency technology, they’re taking their beams to the next level
Electron beams aren’t just for colliding. They also happen to be useful tools for welding metals and treating greenhouse gases. PAVAC Industries of Richmond, Canada is all about electron beams – manipulating them and manufacturing machines that use them. The company is currently contracted to develop superconducting radiofrequency technology (SRF) for the ILC. That assignment, […]
CM2 assembly nearly complete
Fermilab’s CM2, in the final stages of assembly, will come online in the spring.
Fermilab researchers and technicians are currently busy completing the final assembly of CM2, the first US cryomodule in which every one of its eight superconducting cavities meets ILC specifications. As such, it is the material realisation of years of beam testing, cavity manufacturing, and niobium processing. It’s also the first significant tangible step in establishing […]