DEC 12, 2017
The first machine components were lowered into the Accelerator Tunnel (G01) Tuesday as ESS took delivery of the LINAC's Ion Source and Low-Energy Beam Transport line (LEBT).
These will be the first machine installations for the facility, and are an in-kind contribution from the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics' National Laboratory of the South (INFN-LNS) in Catania.
The delivery was tracked on social media using the hashtag #IonSourceAdventure, which followed the loading of the truck carriages near Catania, Sicily, and the weeklong journey through Italy, Austria, Germany, Denmark and over the Öresund Bridge to Sweden.
The delivery rolled into the snow-covered ESS construction site in the morning and was offloaded into the Front End Building and HEBT loading bay throughout the day. The loading bay hosts a shaft where large machine components are lowered into the Accelerator tunnel with a crane and then rolled down a switchback ramp into the tunnel. The smaller parts were brought into the tunnel via the Front End Building lift.
The Ion Source will be the origin of the ESS proton beam. The beam begins as a plasma of protons, which is created by "boiling off" the electrons from Hydrogen molecules using rapidly varying electromagnetic fields. The plasma is guided into the accelerator beamline and quickly brought nearly to the speed of light before it strikes the ESS target wheel to create neutrons to be used for scientific research.
Installation of the Ion Source and LEBT will begin early next year.
Lund Photos: ESS
Italy Photos: INFN
