HITRAP moves and becomes PARTIH — GSI interim solutions are progressing at full speed
30.07.2026 |
Recently, the HITRAP accelerator has been disassembled and transported out of its experimental cave, in preparation for its future use as an interim injector for FAIR. This marks the first important milestone in the sub-project PARTIH, that will generate and provide ion beams in the Transfer Channel between the UNILAC and SIS18. Those beams will then be accelerated further in SIS-18 and will enable FAIR commissioning.
The fire incident in February of this year rendered the operation of the UNILAC linear accelerator impossible for several years. A GSI task force, led by Ralph Aßmann, investigated the future path forward. This included the review of possible interim solutions that can provide ions beams for commissioning of FAIR and for a science program until full UNILAC operation is restored. It was decided that turning the HITRAP decelerator around and using it as an accelerator is the fastest path to Carbon beams for FAIR commissioning. HITRAP was recently used to decelerate highly charged gold ions and to irradiate them onto a surface in order to investigate induced transformations in the surface. PARTIH, HITRAP turned around, became a sub-project in the GSI project for restoring beam operation. The PARTIH sub-project is led by Zoran Andelkovic and Frank Herfurth.
PARTIH will install an ECR ion source, an RFQ and an IH RF structure in the GSI transfer channel, where they will produce and accelerate Carbon-12 (5+) ions to an energy of 4 MeV/u. The goal is to provide at least 10 million particles per pulse for injection into SIS18. This will allow for the first program of FAIR commissioning with beam in 2027 and 2028. The first project milestone – dismounting and preparing the existing accelerator components for relocation – has been met on schedule. This success was possible thanks to the full support from the numerous specialists' departments which continue backing the effort despite their already heavy workloads. This will be followed in the coming months by the clearance of part of the transfer channel, already underway, and the installation of PARTIH by the beginning of 2027. (IP)
