Agilent UHV for Particle Accelerators & Synchrotron Light Sources

In these machines, electrically charged particles (electrons for the production of synchrotron light or ions for particle accelerators) are forced to follow a curved trajectory in a ring called a storage ring. Charged particles circulate for hours in the storage ring, at constant energy, in an ultra-high vacuum environment.
Before their injection into the storage ring, the particles first have to be accelerated inside an injection system composed of one or two accelerators (the Linac and the Booster).
All along their path within the machine, the particles (electrons or ions) have to circulate inside a vacuum chamber. Otherwise, they would collide with the air molecules and would be absorbed very rapidly.
Linac
The linac is a linear accelerator. The charged particles enter into a first RF cavity which accelerates them and at the same time groups them into bunches. They are then accelerated by a succession of RF cavities throughout the length of the linac. Vacuum within the linac can be created by Agilent VacIon Plus pumps from 20 l/s to 70 l/s.
Booster
Charged particles, which have already been accelerated in the linac, are accelerated even more strongly by the booster. The acceleration is produced by RF cavities through which the charged particles pass many times, gaining in energy at each pass. Once the level of maximum energy has been reached, the beam of particles is transferred from the booster to the storage ring.
Vacuum in the booster is generally produced by small pumps. Small Agilent VacIon Plus pumps fit this application perfectly.
Storage Ring
Charged particles circulate inside the storage ring at constant energy. All along the ring there are curved sections as well as straight sections. The storage ring is placed inside a tunnel with very thick concrete walls in order to contain emitted radiation in case of beam loss.
Ultra high vacuum is an absolute necessity in this part of the machine since the particles travel through the storage ring for hours. The less residual gas there is, the more focused the beam remains. Large Agilent VacIon Plus pumps, in the 300 – 500 l/s range are used for this demanding application.
Front Ends
The front end is the pipe work which transports the particles under a vacuum from the extraction zone up to the beamline outside of the tunnel of the ring. There you can find a beam shutter as well as devices allowing the isolation of the vacuum of the ring from that of the beamline, which is often of lower pressure. Agilent large pumps, as in for the storage ring, can be used in this part of the machine.

Beam Lines
The experimental hall, around the storage ring, houses the beamlines built tangentially to the ring. The beamlines are usually specialized in a field of research (such as biology, polymers, and magnetism) or an experimental method (such as diffraction, EXAFS, and imaging). Some of the longest beamlines are built outside the experimental hall.
Generally, large pumps are used in this part, from 300 l/s to 500 l/s. They can be combined with TSP and cryopanel in order to pump even the lightest molecules.
Miscellaneous Projects
Some fundamental research projects that use very sensitive equipment (necessitating ultra-high vacuum with no mechanical vibration) will find the solution in Agilent VacIon Plus pumps. The new gravitational waves detectors (GWD) such as VIRGO in Italy and LIGO in the USA use Agilent pumps to produce and maintain the required vacuum.

Research and Development Particle Accelerators

Turbomolecular pumps are widely used in High Energy Physics, Fusion Technology and general UHV research.
Synchrotron Light Sources, Particle Accelerator Rings, UHV Laboratory research, and Fusion reactors need extremely clean, reliable and cost effective HV and UHV.F
Maintenance-free pumps are specifically required, because most pumps are not easily accessible.

Agilent turbomolecular pumps are designed to offer unmatched reliability, performance and cleanliness
for these applications.
Ceramic bearing pumps, thanks to their reduced rolling friction, low stress and high thermal stability compared to conventional bearings, deliver longer operating life.
Ultra low vapor pressure solid lubricant eliminates the need for maintenance and assures clean operation under any operating conditions.

Furthermore, in contrast to most of the other pumps, all Agilent turbopumps have both the upper and the lower bearing in the rough vacuum side and not exposed to UHV, further reducing the possibility of contamination – even in case of misuse.

The patented TwisTorr stages provide the highest speed and compression ratio in the smallest footprint; furthermore all Agilent turbopumps can truly be mounted in any orientation, from vertical to horizontal to upside down, aiding system design in the most stringent space requirements.

Agilent turbopumps can operate at higher foreline pressures, allowing the use of dry roughing pumps, thus providing a completely clean, oil-free compact and cost effective pumping package.

Whenever a large amount of gas has to be pumped and higher throughput is needed, the combination of TwisTorr pumps and TriScroll dry pumps is the state-of-the-art solution.
All Agilent turbopumps have integrated or on board controller versions allowing easy plug and pump operation, or a rack-mounted controller for applications where the electronics need to be remotely placed (i.e. radioactive environments).