ASTERICS is an ECR (Electron Cyclotron Resonance) ion source designed by CEA, GANIL and LPSC for the NEWGAIN project in France. The design of the Nb-Ti superconducting magnet is inspired from two magnets built for 28 GHz ion sources (VENUS and FRIB ion sources) and is composed of a sextupole inside three solenoids to confine the plasma. The main improvement in terms of magnetic design comes from an increase of the plasma chamber radius from 71.85 mm to 91 mm aiming at increasing the metallic beam yield at both 18 and 28 GHz. This change in magnetic design leads to an increase of Lorentz forces, impacting the design of the mechanical structure. Like the FRIB ion source, the architecture uses an aluminum shell-based support structure with bladders and keys to compress the sextupole azimuthally, and endplates for its axial compression. The bladders and keys allow a disassembly of the sextupole coils, and an adjustment of the coils pre-stress. The solenoids are wound under tension around an aluminum mandrel acting as a shell for the sextupole pre-load. Interfaces between solenoids and mandrel are designed to allow detachment and low friction sliding during excitation. The scale-up of the support structure, to address the dimension increase, is presented here. The 2D and 3D mechanical models developed to perform the mechanical analysis and the results obtained are detailed along with the preliminary assembly process.

In the framework of the NEWGAIN project (NEW GAnil INjector), a new injector is under development to supply the SPIRAL2 LINAC at GANIL with heavy ion of a mass to charge-state ratio up to A/q = 7. In order to produce this heavy ion beam, a superconducting 28 GHz ECR Ion Source called ASTERICS is under development and its superconducting magnet used for plasma confinement is designed at CEA in collaboration with LPSC and GANIL. The magnetic design of the ion source is based on the well-proved sextupole-in-solenoids configuration used in different laboratories worldwide. The superconducting coils will be in Nb-Ti placed in a He bath cooled by 6 in-situ cryocoolers. A magnetic and protection optimization has been done to meet the NEWGAIN requirements which calls for a bigger plasma chamber than the existing superconducting ECR ion sources while maintaining the same temperature margin in the coils. This paper focuses on the magnetic analysis, the protection studies and the choice of the superconducting conductor for the sextupole and the solenoids. To validate the coil fabrication steps and the assumptions made in the magnetic design, some winding trials have been done. Both simulations and mock-up results are presented here.

A new A/Q=7 injector is under development for the SPIRAL2 accelerator at Caen, France (NEWGAIN project). A new 28 GHz superconducting electron cyclotron resonance ion source named ASTERICS is under design for this project. The source features a modern cryostat and a large plasma chamber (91 mm radius and 600 mm length). The physical and technical motivations for a larger plasma volume are detailed and estimates of expected beam intensities enhancement are discussed. The source will mainly produce metallic ion beams: the concept of a temperature-controlled liner (up to 900 degrees C) to stabilize high vapor pressure metal re-evaporation in the source is presented. The preliminary design of the ion source and its superconducting magnet are described.

CEA is leading the design studies effort for the three superferric dipole magnets (30(degrees) bend) of the Energy Buncher (EB) for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR). The EB aims at providing energy-bunched beams for intermediate energy experiments with stopped beams and it is located at the end of the low energy branch of the Superconducting FRagment Separator (Super-FRS) for which CEA is already involved. In this context, CEA started the preliminary design studies of these 1.6 T EB dipoles, which incorporates similar features than the Super-FRS dipoles but has some specific challenges with respect to the magnetic and mechanical design aspects. Cryogenics studies are also reported in this paper as they mainly aim at defining whether the active thermosiphon concept (Super-FRS) is still compatible with the new EB magnet design.

The Grenoble Hybrid magnet is a modular platform using resistive and superconducting technologies to produce various continuous high magnetic field and flux configurations for the scientific community. They range from 43 T in 34 mm diameter with 24 MW electrical power to 9 T in 800 mm diameter when the superconducting coil is used alone. Thanks to the ongoing upgrade of the electrical power installation of LNCMI-Grenoble up to 30 MW and possibly to 36 MW, the possibility to increase the total field up to 45-46 T in the near future is foresee and deeply studied. The key design parameters will be briefly recalled including the specifically developed Nb-Ti/Cu conductor, the large bore outsert superconducting coil, the magnet cryostat with its structure including the eddy-current shield, the cryogenic line for the interconnection with the cryogenic satellite and the fully dedicated 150 l/h He liquefaction plant. All components of the hybrid magnet platform have been built, tested and delivered to LNCMI-Grenoble, where integration and assembly are ongoing. The status of the project will be given with focus to the recent commissioning tests of the cryogenic satellite producing the pressurized superfluid He at 1.8 K as well as to the successful powering tests of the specially developed current leads at ultimate current and under fully degraded cooling conditions simulating the worst-case accidental scenario.

The steadily increasing luminosity of the LHC requires an upgrade with high-rate and high-resolution detector technology for the inner end cap of the ATLAS muon spectrometer: the New Small Wheels (NSW). In order to achieve the goal of precision tracking at a hit rate of about 15 kHz/cm2 at the inner radius of the NSW, large area Micromegas quadruplets with 100 µm spatial resolution per plane have been produced. IRFU, from the CEA research center of Saclay, is responsible for the production and validation of LM1 Micromegas modules. The construction, production, qualification and validation of the largest Micromegas detectors ever built are reported here. Performance results under cosmic muon characterization will also be discussed.

The Grenoble Hybrid magnet is a modular platform using resistive and superconducting technologies to produce various DC high magnetic field and flux configurations for the scientific community. They range from 43 T in 34 mm diameter with 24 MW electrical power to 9 T in 800 mm diameter when the superconducting coil is used alone. Thanks to the ongoing upgrade of the electrical power installation at LNCMI-Grenoble to 30 MW, and possibly to 36 MW, the opportunity to increase the total field well above 45 T in the near future is anticipated and studied in detail. The key design parameters will be recalled comprising the specifically developed Nb-Ti/Cu conductor, the large-bore outsert superconducting coil, the magnet cryostat with its structure including the eddy-current shield, the cryogenic line for the interconnection with the cryogenic satellite and the dedicated 150 l/h He liquefaction plant. All components of the superconducting part of the hybrid magnet platform have been built, tested and delivered to LNCMI-Grenoble, where integration and final assembly are continuing. The status of the project will be presented with the main problems encountered and solved. It includes the recent commissioning tests of the cryogenic satellite producing the pressurized superfluid He at 1.8 K as well as the successful powering tests of the specially developed current leads at ultimate current and under fully degraded cooling conditions simulating the worst-case accidental scenario.

LNCMI is one of the unique worldwide laboratories offering the scientific community access to various experimental conditions with continuous magnetic fields well above 20 T. LNCMI is currently developing a large field flexible experimental platform. One configuration will produce a continuous magnetic field of 43 T in a 34 mm warm bore aperture from the combination of homemade resistive electromagnet inserts and a large bore outer superconducting magnet (1.1 m internal cold dia.), the latter being built in close collaboration with CEA-IRFU Saclay. The superconducting magnet with its mechanical structure and its helium vessel will represent a mass of 22 tons to cool down to 1.8 K and maintain at this temperature 10 months per year. An overview of the project will be given focusing on the cryogenics and particularly on the helium liquefier designed and manufactured by Air Liquide Advanced Technologies. This system - the most powerful even produced in the Helial ML range - and its ancillaries has been integrated and commissioned as a turnkey system in the existing site of LNCMI.

The Superconducting FRagment Separator (SuperFRS) is a part of the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, a new international accelerator facility for the research with antiprotons and ions to be built in Darmstadt, Germany. The Super-FRS is a two-stage fragment separator consisting of a PreSeparator and a Main-Separator, which includes 24 superferric H-type dipole magnets with trapezoidal structure and large aperture. The dipole magnets of the separator will have a deflection radius of 12.5 m, a magnetic field of up to 1.6 T, and an effective length of more than 2 m to bend ion beams with a rigidity from 2 T · m up to 20 T · m. Two trapezoidal-shaped Nb-Ti coils will be located inside a cryostat cooled with liquid helium, but the dipole will have a warm iron yoke with a wide air trim slot. This air trim slot and four chamfered removable poles are designed to meet the required field homogeneity. This paper reports on the current status of the mechanical and magnetic design of such a dipole. The structural stability of the coil case based on 3-D finite-element analysis and the magnetic field simulations of the magnet are presented in detail.

The R3B-Glad magnet is part of a large acceptance spectrometer devoted to the physics of exotic nuclei, under construction at CEA Saclay (France) for the future FAIR facility at GSI (Darmstadt, Germany). The R3B-Glad project is in its final phase where the magnet cold mass is achieved and will be tested at 4.6 K and nominal current in the fall of 2011. We present the results of the R&D tests programs that were implemented to answer some issues raised after the technical design review. First, this superconducting dipole will be cooled down by indirect cooling, and its 22 tons cold mass maintained at 4.6 K by means of a two-phase helium thermosiphon loop. An experimental model set-up has been specifically built to demonstrate the cooling efficiency despite the presence of large quasi-horizontal sections in the circuit. Then the superconducting Rutherford cable joints, required between the 26 coil double pancakes, were designed and tested to minimize their electrical resistance. Finally a reduced scale mock-up of a coil in its casing, with a general design similar to the final magnet, was tested at low temperature to validate the indirect cooling and the mechanical blocking system of the coil in its casing by differential thermal shrinkage. This test was performed at a higher current (8800 A) than the nominal one (3600 A) to reach the same value of temperature margin before quenching, together with similar high level of magnetic forces on the coil (100 to 200 t/m in final magnet).

The cold mass of the R3B magnet consists of a set of six trapezoidal racetrack coils. There are two main coils and two pairs of lateral coils which are connected in series in a butterfly-like shape. The coils are imbedded in the coil-casings and covers which are made of aluminum alloy 5083. There are four coil-casings (two main coil-casings and two lateral coil-casings) and linking components between the coil casings. The cold mass will be placed in a large cryostat. The purpose of the cooling system is to get the R3B-GLAD coils at the proper temperature for running operations under magnetic field. The coils are indirectly cooled. The cool down is ensured by gas helium forced flow. As the coils are imbedded in 5083 (casings + covers) it has been decided to cut off heat loads, like thermal radiation and conduction from room temperature to cold mass, before they can reach the coils. Heat exchangers are thus glued on the casings and covers. There are 20 heat exchanger tubes glued in square grooves in covers and casings over a length of 2 m. In this paper the temperature distribution over all the coils and their support structure during the steady state and transient cooling down process are presented. The orthotropic properties of the thermal conductivity of the winding are taken into account. The non linearity of the thermal properties of the coils and materials constituting the support structure is also considered.

The R 3 B-Glad superconducting Magnet is a large acceptance dipole, dedicated to the analysis of Reactions with Relativistic Radioactive ions Beams. It takes part in the FAIR Project at GSI. As the superconducting NbTi Rutherford cable was under production, detailed studies of the mechanical structure (with both simulation and experiment on a half-scale mock-up) led to revise the magnet design and to abandon the grading of the coils in three stages. Due to the large magnetic forces (up to 400 tons/m), the maximum shear stress level of 20 MPa was impossible to meet in the coils. The main reasons consist in the orthotropic thermo-mechanical behavior of the coils together with the large differential thermal shrinkage between the Cu stabilized coils and their Al alloy casings. Indeed after several studies of different mechanical designs, we decided to simplify the magnet in order to cope with these difficulties. One innovative point is that the coils are not blocked at room temperature, but only at 4.5 K. This paper presents the magnetic calculations of this active shielded magnet, and shows how the new design features meet the specifications. Currently, the 22 tons magnet cold mass, i.e. the 6 coils and their integration in the casings, is ordered and under construction. Meanwhile, the design of the magnet cryostat has evolved into a shape of elliptical cylinder with a lateral satellite. The total weight is expected to be around 50 tons.

The R3B-GLAD (GSI Large Acceptance superconducting Dipole) magnet provides the magnetic field needed for the R3B (Reaction studies with Radioactive Relativistic Beams) experiment which will be implemented on the future FAIR Facility (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research). There are six trapezoidal racetrack coils for the R3B-GLAD magnet. Two main coils and four lateral coils are connected in series in a butterfly-like shape. The total weight of the six coils is 5.2 t. The cold mass assembly consists of coils, coil-casings, structural linking components and other non-structural components. The cold mass assembly weighs 22 t with envelope dimensions of 3.1 m (L) × 4.6 m (W) × 2.8 m (H). It is supported by the three cold to warm cryogenic supports. The magnet configuration was finalized in June 2008. The final cold mass design was accomplished end of July 2008. The manufacturing of the cold mass assembly has been launched since January 2009. The cold mass will be ready for test in the test station at CEA Saclay by the end of 2010. This paper gives an overview on the final design of the R3BGLAD cold mass assembly and manufacturing status.

Bulk-MicroMegas detectors are based on a novel technology which is of particular interest for large area Micro Pattern Gas Detectors (MPGD). Their manufacturing process combines detector construction simplicity and robustness, allowing large sensitive areas to be produced at low cost. Such devices provide very good gas gain uniformity and detection coverage with small dead spaces. They are ideally suited in HEP applications where large volume tracking detectors with low material budget are required. This is the case, for instance, of the T2K neutrino experiment in Japan, in which large Time Proportional Chamber (TPC) devices will be used. Bulk- MicroMegas detectors are also being considered for the future Linear Collider Detector. We present in this paper the recent developments and performance of bulk-MicroMegas detectors for the T2K TPC.

The R3B-GLAD magnet is a large acceptance superconducting dipole magnet. It provides the magnetic field needed for the R3B (Reaction studies with Radioactive Relativistic Beams) experiment which will be implemented on the future FAIR Facility (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research). The cold mass structure of the magnet is designed to hold the six superconducting coils in position and to resist high level magnetic forces. The cold mass assembly consists of coils, coil casings and linking components. It is supported by the three cold to warm supports. It weighs about 20 tons with envelope dimensions of 3 rm(rL) x 5 rm(rW) x 3 rm(rH).Engineering design of the cold mass structure has been carried out through extensive finite element analyses. This paper gives an overview on the mechanical behavior of the cold mass assembly during energizing phase and cool-down phase.

Adsorption of nitromethane on oxide surfaces was monitored using 13C CP/MAS NMR. Stabilization of the aci-anion formed by reaction of nitromethane on acid−base pairs was apparent. A linear relationship between the 13C NMR isotropic chemical shift of the methylene group of the adsorbed aci-anion of nitromethane and the heat of adsorption of CO2 measured by microcalorimetry was established. The results suggest that nitromethane constitutes an accurate and effective NMR probe for monitoring the basicity of oxide surfaces.

In the Atlas muon spectrometer (ATLAS Technical Proposal, CERN/LHCC/94-43, 15 December 1994, ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Technical Design Report, CERN/LHCC/97-22, 31 May 1997 and http://atlasinfo.cern.ch:80/Atlas/Welcome.html) the alignment system should control the spatial position of the muon chambers with an accuracy of 30μm and 200μrad for a range of ±5mm and ±10mrad. The alignment device described in this paper, called Praxial, fulfills these requirements.

BABAR, the detector for the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric e+e- B Factory operating at the upsilon 4S resonance, was designed to allow comprehensive studies of CP-violation in B-meson decays. Charged particle tracks are measured in a multi-layer silicon vertex tracker surrounded by a cylindrical wire drift chamber. Electromagentic showers from electrons and photons are detected in an array of CsI crystals located just inside the solenoidal coil of a superconducting magnet. Muons and neutral hadrons are identified by arrays of resistive plate chambers inserted into gaps in the steel flux return of the magnet. Charged hadrons are identified by dE/dx measurements in the tracking detectors and in a ring-imaging Cherenkov detector surrounding the drift chamber. The trigger, data acquisition and data-monitoring systems, VME- and network-based, are controlled by custom-designed online software. Details of the layout and performance of the detector components and their associated electronics and software are presented.