Vacuum
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire . Image source : STFC
• New materials for hydrogen storage , providing clean energy and alternative fuels for transport
• Solvents and lubricants for both domestic and industrial use
• Stress and fatigue in components from aerospace , transport and power generation
• Structure of pharmaceutical compounds
• Bio-compatible materials for healthcare
Unlike reactor-based neutron sources such as the Institut Laue-Langevin ( ILL ) in Grenoble , France , ISIS is an acceleratorbased source that utilises an ion source to produce negative hydrogen ions which are then sent to the Radio Frequency ( RF ) Quadrupole accelerator . Intense RF electric fields are then used to focus , bunch and accelerate particles before they are passed to the linear accelerator ( linac ) where they are accelerated to 70MeV . After passing through a stripping foil , these negative hydrogen ions are stripped of their electrons , leaving protons , which are then accelerated in bunches in the synchrotron to
800MeV . Neutrons are created by firing this high energy beam of protons into a tungsten target . These neutrons are then channelled to various instruments surrounding the target where different experiments are carried out .
ISIS has been operational for over 30 years . The source was approved in 1977 , and first neutrons were produced in late 1984 . Over the years the facility has grown and evolved with the addition of a second target station ( TS2 ) in August 2008 , which was developed to meet the growing demand from the bio-science and advanced materials community .
In terms of scientific output the facility supports the publication of over 400 papers a year across a range of disciplines .
The Vacuum Section on ISIS is run by a team of five dedicated staff who are responsible for the running and maintenance of all vacuum equipment used on the machine ( specifically the linac , synchrotron , beam transfer lines and target stations ) and also on over 25 instruments that are operational on the two target stations .
56 SUMMER 2016