14UD Tandem Accelerator
The accelerator is fed by a negative ion source.
The ions are accelerated towards a 15 MV positive high voltage terminal, in the middle of the accelerator. At the terminal they encounter a thin foil which strips the electrons off, turning the ions from negative to positive. They then accelerate away from the terminal towards the experimental beamlines.
Superconducting Linear Accelerator
To achieve higher energies the beam from the 14UD can be sent through an additional accelerator: a 6 MV equivalent linear accelerator.
The bunches of particles arriving from the 14UD are accelerated by pulsed electric fields generated by 12 superconducting split ring loops, cooled by liquid helium, before being sent to the beamlines.
Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)
The HIAF AMS facility enables very precise separation and measurements of rare isotopes. It can be filled with gas to allow separation of isobars (species with same momentum, charge and mass) via charge exchange reactions.
The AMS comprises an Enge Split-Pole magnetic spectrograph coupled to a position sensitive multi-anode gas ionisation detector.
Nuclear Science
HIAF has eight beamlines devoted to nuclear physics experiments, including fusion, fission, nuclear structure, astrophysics, and electron spectroscopy.
Many of the experiments and detectors have been designed and built in-house by our precision engineers.
Material Irradiation
For direct irradiation of materials, samples can be placed directly into the beam (designated Beam Line 0).
Design Development and Maintenance
HIAF has a team of experienced technical staff to maintain and develop the facility. The staff take part in design and modelling of improvements, and manufacture components.
We keep an online archive of all of our the tank opening reports and a record of historical schedules.
Endowment Fund
The HIAF Endowment Fund was created in 2012 to offer technical staff at HIAF career advancement opportunities that would not otherwise be available, to support PhD student scholarship top-ups with a travelling allowance to attract the best minds to HIAF, and to provide seed funding for new research initiatives and directions.
Updated: 17 September 2024/ Responsible Officer: Director, RSPE/ Page Contact: Webmaster, RSPE
