7.4 million euros from the EFRE fund: HZB is setting up a new application laboratory for developing superconducting accelerator components
The application laboratory “SupraLab@HZB” is funded by the EFRE Fonds.
A complex infrastructure will be set up at the SupraLab@HZB for testing the superconducting cavities and developing entire installable modules.
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is receiving 7.4 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE). The money is being used to set up the application laboratory “SupraLab@HZB” for the advancement of high-current superconducting cavities. These components will be needed for operating the next generation of novel, high-performance light sources. The laboratory will also provide complex superconducting component test beds for use by companies and research institutes in the region.
“We are very grateful for the funding from EFRE, and thank in particular the State of Berlin for supporting our application. With SupraLab@HZB, we will achieve a milestone in the development of pioneering accelerator technology. The creation of this application laboratory will generate know-how for future accelerators and novel lightsources. The development of this key technology also presents attractive economic opportunities for the research and industrial landscape of Berlin,” says Prof. Dr. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, scientific director of HZB.
To set up the new application laboratory, HZB is applying its internationally renowned expertise in the development of continuous wave (CW) superconducting accelerator components. “The advantage of these CW superconducting cavities is that they permanently apply a very high accelerator field and at the same time provide the freedom to optimise the geometry for high-current mode. So not only do they accelerate a high electron current; they also offer a practically freely selectable time structure (pulse sequence) of the current. Thanks to the EFRE funding, we now have the opportunity to develop this technology a great deal further until it is ready for application in light sources,” says Prof. Dr. Jens Knobloch, head of the HZB institute “SRF – Science and Technology” (ISRF), which has assumed the scientific direction of the SupraLab.
The HZB researchers aim to use this technology as part of the upgrade of BESSY II into a variable pulse length storage ring, BESSY VSR. For the first time, high-current superconducting cavities will be used to produce long and short pulses (in the picosecond range) of high-brilliancy light simultaneously in the one storage ring. Flexibly selectable pulse lengths will go a long way to resolving many unanswered questions in research. They will allow materials for energy conversion, for example, or future energy-efficient data storage (spintronics) to be studied more thoroughly and developed further than ever before.
For the SupraLab@HZB, the researchers want to develop and qualify not only cavities but also entire installable modules. Developing these superconducting modules, however, will require enormous technical effort. Accordingly, a complex infrastructure will be set up at the SupraLab@HZB for testing the cavities and systems. Plans include investments in cryogenic systems and high-frequency emitters, among other things. Once complete, the application laboratory will promote lasting technology transfer and cooperation with regional and national companies.
The project is being funded from the European Regional Development Fund as of 1 January 2017, and will run until the end of 2019. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin is contributing an equal sum from its own means. Thus, a total of 14.8 million euros is available for setting up the new application laboratory SupraLab@HZB.
Clips about BESSY VSR
- about the project
- about the principle and the problem of BESSY VSR
Website BESSY VSR
- Susanne Nies appointed to EU advisory group on Green DealDr. Susanne Nies heads the Green Deal Ukraina project at HZB, which aims to support the development of a sustainable energy system in Ukraine. The energy expert has now also been appointed to the European Commission's scientific advisory group to comment on regulatory burdens in connection with the net-zero target (DG GROW).
- Long-term stability for perovskite solar cells: a big step forwardPerovskite solar cells are inexpensive to produce and generate a high amount of electric power per surface area. However, they are not yet stable enough, losing efficiency more rapidly than the silicon market standard. Now, an international team led by Prof. Dr. Antonio Abate has dramatically increased their stability by applying a novel coating to the interface between the surface of the perovskite and the top contact layer. This has even boosted efficiency to almost 27%, which represents the state-of-the-art. After 1,200 hours of continuous operation under standard illumination, no decrease in efficiency was observed. The study involved research teams from China, Italy, Switzerland and Germany and has been published in Nature Photonics.
- Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overviewHybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights that can be used for targeted optimisation. A team has now published an overview of the current state of knowledge in Nature Reviews Chemistry.