For over ten years, ILK Dresden has been actively involved in the development of complex components for the accelerator community, in particular for the SIS100 storage ring (‘SchwerIonenSynchrotron 100 Tm’), which is currently under construction. This is an integral part of the FAIR  particle accelerator facility (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe, which is being built with international participation at GSI Darmstadt - Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research.

SIS100 is a superconducting ring accelerator with a circumference of around 1.1 kilometres. It accelerates ions of the heavy elements of the periodic table to around 99% of the speed of light and provides high-intensity beams for nuclear physics, astrophysics, materials research, radiation biology and future medical applications.

The extreme experimental conditions require a precise understanding of the magnetic field of the modules in the storage ring. To this end, ILK Dresden is currently developing two anticryostats. These enable warm magnet measurements by housing a rotating coil probe in a special warm bore area. This area is thermally and mechanically isolated from the surrounding cold mass of the quadrupole magnets. This allows for the precise alignment of the magnet modules in the storage ring.

The high magnetic fields required to deflect the ion beams must also be generated with a high degree of precision. The CCC (Cryogenic Current Comparator) is another specialised cryostat that we have supplied for use at SIS100. It is an ultra-sensitive instrument for measuring the quality of the particle beam (intensity). Due to its ability to measure fields in the femtotesla range, it must be well shielded against any electrical, magnetic and mechanical interference.

As the accelerator magnets are powered by superconductors, special components are required to feed in the current. To this end, GSI and ILK have jointly developed, amongst other things, so-called cold terminals and local current leads, which have been delivered to Darmstadt.

An ultra-high vacuum (XHV) is required for the operation of the SIS100. Specially adapted cryo-inserts and cryosorption pumps from ILK Dresden are used for this purpose.

Another area of collaboration involves measurements, sensor and actuator technology, and electronic developments. For example, ILK Dresden has developed compact readout devices for temperature sensors, calibrated a wide range of cryogenic temperature sensors, and supplied customised heating elements for power supply lines. Another milestone was the complex investigation of a SIS300 prototype magnet using high-current technology and the ILK Dresden’s helium test facility.

This is of great significance to the international accelerator community, as many of the technologies developed for SIS100 are relevant not only to FAIR but also, amongst other things, to:

• CERN (LHC, Future Circular Collider)    
• DESY (Hamburg)    
• ESS Lund    
• PSI Villigen    
• ITER and other nuclear fusion facilities  
• Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)   
• Research reactors (Jülich, Garching, …)    
• Berlin Electron Synchrotron (BESSY)    
• Medical accelerator facilities

In addition to the systems mentioned, the technologies described can also be adapted and used in related fields of application.