Published 2nd December 2019
The first electrons have been injected and stored in the new ESRF Extremely Brilliant Source storage ring according to schedule.
This is an important milestone on the way to opening to the international scientific community the first high-energy fourth-generation synchrotron light source, known as EBS – Extremely Brilliant Source. It marks the successful completion of the engineering and installation of a worldwide-unique accelerator within the existing ESRF infrastructure, and the start of the commissioning phase of a brand-new generation of high-energy synchrotron.
Expectation was high in the ESRF’s control room on 2 December as teams carefully monitored the first turns of the electrons around the new EBS storage ring. “Seeing the first electrons circulating is a huge achievement and proof of the hard work and expertise of the teams who have been working on this since 2015,” said Pantaleo Raimondi, ESRF accelerator and source director and EBS storage ring concept inventor and project leader. “It’s a great moment for all involved.”
“It’s a proud day for the whole synchrotron user community,” said Francesco Sette, ESRF Director General. “EBS is now coming to life. It’s an important milestone on the way to a new generation of hard X-ray sources, which will provide the international scientific community with an indispensable tool to push back the frontiers of science. I would like to thank all the ESRF staff and international teams who have worked tirelessly to make this possible on time and within budget. I would also like to thank our 22 partner countries for their strong and constant support, allowing ESRF to fulfil its global mission of pioneering synchrotron science.”
Teams will commission the storage ring and beamlines until user service resumes in August 2020. Photo: S. Candé/ESRF.
Following the achievement of stored electrons, the team will work hard over the next few weeks to optimise the parameters of the beam, ramp up the current and use the beam to condition the storage ring vacuum system.
The next steps are the following:
- – storage ring commissioning to obtain the beam parameters required to restart the experimental programme by 2 March 2020,
- – further storage ring commissioning and experimental programme restart from 2 March to 24 August 2020,
- – resumption of the User Service Mode on 25 August 2020.