RI Research Instruments GmbH, a majority-owned subsidiary of Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies, Inc. (BEST), today announced the award of a 24.9 million Euro (approximately $33 million U.S. dollar) contract from DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) in Hamburg, Germany for the supply of 300 superconducting radio frequency (srf) accelerator cavities for the European XFEL (X-Ray Free Electron Laser) facility.
According to published reports, the European XFEL is expected to generate ultra-short X-ray flashes 27,000 times per second, with a brilliance that is a billion times higher than that of the best conventional X-ray radiation sources. As a result of these characteristics, which are considered unique worldwide, the facility is expected to open completely new research opportunities for scientists and industrial users.
The contract received by RI Research Instruments covers the manufacturing, surface preparation and integration into a helium vessel of 300 srf cavities ordered by DESY. RI's advanced srf cavities use thin-walled Niobium metallic superconductor structures which are bonded together using specialized electron beam welding manufacturing technology in order to achieve ultra-low electrical losses and very high quality factors. Superconducting rf cavities provide unique scientific capabilities because they can accelerate electrons with higher electromagnetic fields at higher duty cycles that would cause conventional, non-superconducting rf cavities, e.g. made of copper, to melt.
The European XFEL is designed with a 17.5 GeV linear accelerator which will use srf cavities to deliver electron bunches for the generation of X-ray flashes in a special arrangements of magnets, called undulators.
After completion of a small number of pre-series srf cavities in 2011, BEST expects series deliveries to start at the beginning of 2012 and last until 2014. In terms of Euro value, this is the largest order in the 50-year history of Bruker Corporation, the parent company of BEST. DESY is expected to require additional srf cavities for XFEL in the future.
Dr. Michael Peiniger, Managing Director of RI Research Instruments, commented: "This award represents the largest contract on superconducting rf cavities ever received in RI's (formerly ACCEL Instruments) history. This XFEL contract fits perfectly as a continuation of our more than 1,000 srf cavities produced in the past 20 years for research labs like JLAB, SNS/ORNL, Stanford, Cornell University, Frankfurt University, FNAL, DESY, CERN, GANIL, and many others worldwide."
Hanspeter Vogel, Director of RI, added: "This contract marks a new milestone as, for the first time, industry will perform the final clean room preparation of the XFEL srf cavities, with corresponding investments in chemistry and clean room technology, giving the DESY XFEL lab the advantage of being able to perform cryogenic rf power testing on the cavities immediately after delivery. We believe this contract will further enhance our reputation as a leader in srf cavities."