News from Louisiana State University, Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices

Lorraine Day

• Quadrupole magnets will be split to place pick-up electrodes, and new stands will be constructed for all the dipole magnets (except the zero-degree port dipole attached to the wiggler).
• Several Kicker boxes will be disconnected and new stands fabricated.
• The wiggler zero-degree port will receive a new flange.
• Three sector valves will be replaced, and nineteen pick-up electrodes will be introduced.
• More than 30 bellows and 20 spool pieces, as well as ion-clearing electrodes, will be changed.
• New radiofrequency (RF) shields have been designed and implemented. More than 50 of these will be installed.

These changes will be a prelude to a major survey of all the ring elements to place everything in position. The CAMD ring has been in operation for nine years and has suffered from a lack of funds devoted to ring maintenance. With the addition of five new accelerator-based staff and a real commitment to on-going maintenance, it is hoped that reliability of the ring will be improved as we move toward 24/7 operation.

All of this activity includes a proper ring survey (with help from our friends at Bonn University) and improved vacuum and RF components. These should help to extend the lifetime. There is also a plan to upgrade the RF system, but this is likely to occur during a second shutdown. These major efforts are required in preparation for an extensive protein crystallography program scheduled for full-time operation in October of this year. With only 42 people on staff, including 6-7 administrative staff, this is indeed an ambitious undertaking. We will keep you informed of our progress.