SESAME’s 800 MeV Booster in Operation
On 3 September 2014, the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East [SESAME] booster came into full operation. The Booster Synchrotron – the second machine in the SESAME acceleration chain – is now accelerating electrons to 800 MeV. Reaching this energy is a milestone for SESAME, which aims to bring scientists from the region together through international scientific cooperation.
Particle acceleration at SESAME starts with the Microtron, accelerating electrons to 22 MeV. From the Microtron the electrons are passed to the Booster.
SESAME’s Microtron became operational in 2012; installation of its Booster was completed in 2013.
Electrons from the Microtron were successfully stored in the Booster at 20 MeV in July 2014. On 3 September 2014 SESAME succeeded in accelerating the electrons in the Booster from 20 to 800 MeV.
From the Booster, electrons will be passed through a transfer line to the storage ring. The current in the storage ring is filled up to 400 mA and the electrons are then accelerated to 2500 MeV, where they will circulate for hours.
Bending magnets and Insertion Devices in the storage ring will force the electrons on a circular trajectory where they will emit synchrotron light. The synchrotron light will be passed to several beam lines in the experimental area for experiments in fields from medical imaging to archaeology.
The Booster is the first high-energy accelerator in the Middle East, and was built and is being run by a team of young scientists and technicians from the region for which accelerator technology is a new field. This success will open the path for the final goal, which is to make SESAME the first operational synchrotron light source in the Middle East and to confirm its position as a truly international research centre.
For more information, visit the SESAME website.
