Image credit: BNG Industry.
The international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR) (CERN Courier May 2007 p23) is currently under construction at GSI, in Darmstadt, Germany. The FAIR accelerators will deliver antiproton and ion beams of unprecedented intensities and qualities to perform heavy-ion and antimatter research. The driver accelerator of FAIR is a fast-ramping, superconducting synchrotron, SIS100, which allows the acceleration of high-intensity beams of stable elements from protons (29 GeV) to uranium (11 GeV/u). SIS100 will be installed in an underground tunnel and all of the services will be installed in a parallel supply tunnel.
The delivery of components for SIS100 commenced at the end of 2015. On 21 December, AURION in Seeligenstadt delivered the first of nine magnetic-alloy bunch-compression cavities. In a combined site/factory acceptance test at GSI, approval for series production is now in preparation.
As the first Polish in-kind contribution, the first piece of cryogenic-bypass line, made at the Wroclaw University of Technology, was delivered in February. After delivery, the bypass line will undergo acceptance tests at GSI.
The site acceptance test of the first of a series of fast-ramped, dipole magnets is in its final stage (see figure). The results available so far indicate high mechanical precision and excellent performance of the superconducting coil. Following successful results, series production has started, and the first devices are expected to be delivered by the middle of 2016. The series devices will be tested at the new test facility at GSI, which has been set up for cold testing of FAIR magnets. In accordance with the contracts, many other SIS100 components will be delivered in 2016, including the first of a series of superconducting quadrupoles from JINR (Dubna, Russia), resonance sextupole magnets, acceleration cavities, magnet chambers, cryo-catcher and cryo-absorption pumps, and many others.
The realisation phase of the SIS100 project is fully under way, and the work is proceeding according to schedule. The production of accelerator components is expected to take a maximum of four years.
