Success stories

Tens of metres of high quality precision welded aluminium waveguides have been manufactured in Switzerland by Hirsig Blechtechnik AG for the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) Extremely Bright Source (EBS) project. The waveguides transport microwaves into the electron storage ring to give electrons a high energy kick on every lap of the ring to keep them circulating at near light speed. The EBS project multiplies the brightness of the x-ray beams at the ESRF by a factor of 100 over its historic intensity creating an unprecedented tool for the exploration of matter and for the understanding of life at the macromolecular level.

MPS Microsystems located in Biel, Switzerland is working with the MOONS consortium to build an advanced spectrograph instrument for the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. The MOONS instrument will analyse the visible and infrared light from millions of stars and galaxies. MPS Microsystems has combined smart engineering with Swiss precision to design and manufacture positioning units that can quickly and simultaneously place 1000 fibre optics with micrometre accuracy at measurement points across the VLT image.

Kompaflex AG has designed, built and successfully tested a large prototype bellows for the ITER tokamak fusion project in Cadarache, France. The bellows will be used to isolate the ultra-high vacuum inside the cryostat from the building environment, whilst withstanding the extreme operating conditions of the fusion reactor. After meeting the challenging requirements of the ITER specification, a further 85 bellows will be manufactured, some as large as four meters in size.

A precision Swiss-German manufacturing consortium led by Tiefbohrbär GmbH has developed prototype corrugated waveguides for the ITER fusion reactor that will be used to deliver microwaves into the hot burning plasma inside the reactor. The Tiefbohrbär consortium has manufactured waveguides in stainless steel, aluminium alloy and chromium-zirconium bronze and has been responsible for the required R&D for the high precision boring of the waveguide tube, the corrugation tooling and machining process, and a dedicated corrugation measuring system.

The High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider project at CERN will increase the accelerator luminosity to allow experiments to gather more data and observe rare events after 2025. Swiss metal forging company Imbach is using an integral open-die forging and CNC controlled ring rolling process to manufacture massive cylindrical aluminium alloy sleeves enclosing the high-performance superconducting magnets that are a key part of the upgrade.

Swiss Nord-Lock AG in St Gallenkappel, Switzerland have supplied specialist bolting solutions for the ITER fusion machine in a multimillion Swiss franc project. Superbolt multi-jackbolt tensioners (MJTs) made from Inconel will be used in the rigid superstructure supporting superconducting magnetic field coils that will confine the ITER plasma particles. The MJTs have been designed to operate under tremendous electromagnetic loads with working temperatures close to absolute zero.

Stäubli Electrical Connectors maintains a long-term relationship with CERN by engineering and providing multi-coupling solutions for electrical connectors to transfer power, data and signals around the LHC. The Stäubli connector system is modular, compact, versatile and reliable and is a perfect solution for CERN where the ability to quickly connect or disconnect electrical racks from complex accelerator sub-systems is essential for minimising operational downtime.

Hybrid photon counting x-ray detectors pioneered by DECTRIS in Switzerland have transformed research at synchrotron light sources and are routinely installed at facilities around the world. Through a successful long term relationship between DECTRIS and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ESRF in France, over 17 detectors have been installed on research beamlines since 2009. Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thousands of scientists visiting the ESRF from around the world rely on state-of-the-art detector technology from DECTRIS for their research.

Swiss advanced laser manufacturer ONEFIVE GmbH has developed an ultrafast laser system for experiments at the European XFEL in Hamburg. Onefive used its expertise in low-noise ultrafast laser physics to build a fully optical fibre based front-end laser system to provide the initial laser pulses for the XFEL pump-probe laser. Following successful tests, three Onefive laser systems will be installed at the European XFEL.

The Electron Cyclotron system at the ITER fusion reactor will be used to heat a hot plasma gas to over 100 million ºC, almost ten times the temperature at the core of the sun. Ampegon AG has been contracted to design, manufacture, install and commission the power supplies for the Electron Cyclotron system. The company is supplying 8 high voltage power supplies (55 kV/100 A) and 16 body power supplies (35 kV/100 mA) to be installed at the ITER site at Cadarache in France from 2019.

IOXOS Technologies in partnership with the Paul Scherrer Institute, has used its expertise and proven experience in the development of distributed real-time control systems for high energy physics to provide a long-lasting modular hardware platform for the European Spallation Source accelerator control system. The collaboration with the European Spallation Source and the Paul Scherrer Institute has allowed IOxOS Technologies to consolidate its position as a reliable solution provider to high energy physics laboratories, and enabled the company to pursue new opportunities to implement control solutions for other research facilities.

SwissNeutronics is a leading supplier of neutron guide systems and neutron optical devices based on supermirror technology. Over the past 10 years, several hundred metres of supermirror neutron guide have been manufactured by SwissNeutronics and installed at the Institut Laue-Langevin in France as part of its refurbishment and development programmes. Using SwissNeutronics technology has delivered a factor x10 performance increase for the research instruments at the facility.

The Swiss research and technology organisation CSEM has designed an adaptive optics control system for the ESO E-ELT telescope in Chile, the largest optical telescope in the world. The CSEM system adjusts a 2.5 m x 3 m elliptical mirror weighing 450 kg with nanometre accuracy to correct for atmospheric turbulence without being influenced by the telescope vibrations during the E-ELT star tracking motion. Based on the success of a full-size demonstrator design, ESO has commissioned the CSEM system for installation at the E-ELT.

Smartec SA, the leading supplier of fibre optic solutions for geotechnical and structural monitoring projects, has supplied the ITER fusion project with bespoke solutions for remote sensing and monitoring in extreme conditions - high magnetic fields, temperatures near absolute zero, vacuum, high radiation doses and electromagnetic noise. By working with ITER, Smartec is now well-placed to take advantage of new business opportunities through its expanded range of products and expertise in providing remote sensing in extreme conditions.