2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
The Council under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education approved the project of creating a new source of synchrotron radiation "SKIF" in Novosibirsk. The installation will advance work in the fields of renewable energy sources, biomedical technologies, nuclear energy, environmental research and the production of new materials. Construction should be completed in 2023.
Much research in the field of biology and materials science is based on X-ray structural analysis, that is, on the study of the nature of the scattering of X-ray radiation in the sample. To generate electromagnetic waves in this range, synchrotrons are used, that is, ring electron accelerators, where the necessary photons are obtained during the accelerated motion of charged particles in a magnetic field.
In many situations, it is necessary to use radiation of the highest possible intensity - this at least allows information to be obtained faster and more accurately. Consequently, it is necessary to create more and more powerful radiation sources. We wrote about the history of the development of this technology and the current state of research in Russia in the material "More synchrotrons".
In the last few years in Russia at the highest level there has been talk about the need to create a new synchrotron complex. Several decrees were adopted, the key of which "On measures to develop synchrotron and neutron research and research infrastructure in the Russian Federation" was published on July 25, 2019. It outlined the task of creating a new generation synchrotron radiation source in the Novosibirsk region by December 31, 2023.
On October 17, a meeting of the Council for the implementation of the federal scientific and technical program for the development of synchrotron and neutron research and research infrastructure for 2019-2027 was held. Within the framework of this event, the project of the Center for Collective Use "Siberian Ring Photon Source" (TsKP "SKIF"), developed by the Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Institute of Catalysis and other organizations of the SB RAS, RAS and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, was approved. The initiative implies the creation of a 4+ generation synchrotron radiation source with an electron energy of 3 gigaelectronvolts in the Novosibirsk science city of Koltsovo.
The perimeter of the main accelerator "SKIF" will be 477 meters, its ring will be divided into 18 elements, consisting of rotary and linear parts. Plug-in devices for SR generation are placed in 14 straight sections: wigglers, undulators and shifters. The emittance of the facility, that is, the phase volume of the beam, which is inversely proportional to the brightness, will be about 90 picometers and in the future may be reduced to 60 picometers. The installation will be capable of generating radiation with photon energies from 1 to 100 keV.
Spectra of X-rays generated by various components of the system
The implementation of the project implies the creation of not only the accelerator complex itself, but also a collective use center, which will include a variety of user infrastructure, including experimental stations and a laboratory building. Construction should be completed by the end of 2023, and the launch of the first phase of the project, according to plans, should take place in 2024, the estimated cost is 37.1 billion rubles.
The implementation of the project of the Center for Collective Use "SKIF" in Novosibirsk is the main point of the development program of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center "Akademgorodok 2.0". In the future, the Siberian radiation source will become part of the domestic network of synchrotron and neutron research, the head unit of which, ISSI-4, will be located at the Kurchatov Institute Research Center in the Moscow Region.
In 2017, a powerful free electron laser was launched in Europe, which is also used to generate X-rays. Another large particle physics experiment under construction in Russia is the NICA collider, which we talked about in the article "Small Explosion". Recently, a NASA employee proposed the original concept of an "impossible" engine, which is actually a space synchrotron.
