ISIS Technical Highlights

Technical Highlights

Our engineering and technical work has recently been highlighted by Maintenance & Engineering magazine, both online and in print (pages 22-25).

Browse all technical highlights articles from ISIS Neutron and Muon Source below.

Detector build starts for HRPD-X
October 2024 saw the start of the build of the detectors for the ISIS instrument project HRPD-X: a significant upgrade to HRPD.
Super MuSR detector testing successful
Behind the scenes of an ISIS shutdown
It might seem to an outsider that when the beam is off, work at ISIS stops or slows down. But the opposite is true!
New humidity cell commissioning on LOQ
A new sample cell for controlling relative humidity has been designed and 3D printed by the sample environment team, and has now been successfully commissioned on LOQ.
Reducing ISIS water usage
A project has been underway to replace the Target Station 2 cooling towers with newer ones that use less electricity and water.
Looking inside the TS1 hydrogen moderator
Using IMAT, ISIS engineers have been able to image the inside of the new TS1 hydrogen moderator, to ensure it is operating correctly.
Cold Snap
Join our cryogenics team on a video journey as they venture into one of the coldest systems in the universe - a dilution refrigerator.
Behind the scenes: preparing for beam returning to TS1
With the end of the long shutdown imminent, we go behind the scenes at ISIS and discover some of what goes on to prepare for beam returning to TS1 after 18 months.
ISIS engineers’ unique technical expertise is informing industrial ion source development
The ISIS Low Energy Beams Group have been collaborating with the company Kinectrics Ltd to help them develop a new commercial ion source.
New TS1 target in place
The last piece of the target, reflector and moderator (TRaM) has been lifted into the remote handling cell as the TS1 project reaches its latest milestone.
IBEX-2: studying the particle accelerators of the future
The Intense Beams Experiment has been upgraded to enable the study of how particles behave inside the complex fields of a particle accelerator.
Helping CERN create and handle anti-matter
ISIS staff, in collaboration with others from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), have built and tested an ion source that will allow more antimatter to be created.
First Beam through the FETS RFQ
The Front End Test Stand (FETS) Project has successfully accelerated its first beam.
Refurbishing the RIKEN-RAL beamlines
A large project has been underway as part of the ISIS long shutdown to improve the efficiency and reliability of the RIKEN-RAL muon beamlines.
Meet the Detector Group 2022
We sat down with three members of the ISIS Detector Group to find out what life is like as a member of the team.
Reducing ISIS’ energy consumption by upgrading the synchrotron radio frequency systems
During the long shutdown, the ISIS synchrotron RF section have replaced all six of the fundamental RF systems that drive the synchrotron acceleration.
Looking inside a fridge that cools to ultra-low temperatures
The ISIS cryogenics team have used the IMAT instrument to see what’s really happening inside one of their dilution fridges.
The last piece of the TS1 target puzzle arrives
The final piece of the new target assembly being installed as part of the TS1 project has been delivered, enabling the project to move to the next stage
Using a drone to map radiation levels
ISIS’ mechanical engineering section have been using a drone to gather radiation data and record videos of a highly radioactive area.
Meet the Cryogenics Team 2021
We sat down and spoke to 5 members of our award-winning Cryogenics team to find out what life is like as a member of the team.
Raising the roof in TS1
To prepare for installation of the new target services trolley in TS1, the roof lintels have been removed and replaced with a temporary roof.
The ISIS Cryogenics Team wins Institute of Physics award
The ISIS Cryogenics Team has earned the 2021 Technician Team Award for "providing exceptional ultra-low temperature and high magnetic field technical support, contributing to more than 500 neutron and muon scattering experiments annually."
Hissing Sid the hovercraft
When the magnets in the ISIS synchrotron need to be removed for maintenance, it is not possible to use a crane and so the engineers use a specially designed hovercraft to move them
Developing instruments with new ideas and recycled steel
Technicians from the ISIS instruments and projects section have been developing new processes that will benefit the design and build of future neutron instruments
Engineers at ISIS
For 'This is Engineering Day', here is an insight into the value that engineers bring to ISIS.
Using light curtains to develop a new synchrotron search routine
A new interlocks system has been installed in the ISIS inner synchrotron that allows the crew to reduce the number of people needed for safety checks from four down to two.
Illuminating samples inside the beamline
A new sample cell that can be used for inelastic neutron scattering whilst a sample is being illuminated has been developed and successfully used on Tosca.
Engineering design of a prototype permanent magnet for Ion Beam Analysis
Scientists Olli Tarvainen and Ben Shepherd have collaborated to design a prototype of a permanent magnet for Ion Beam Analysis.
Reusing a finite resource: helium recovery at ISIS neutron and muon source
The helium recovery facility at ISIS has enabled the recycling of almost 90% of this precious gas
ISIS’ Marvellous Mechanical Machines
Recent investment in the ISIS mechanical workshop has enabled the group to take on more advanced bespoke projects for the facility.
Introduction to the Ion Source
A video introducing the ion source, how it works, and the project to upgrade it.
Lower energy neutrons need a different recipe for effective concrete shielding
Industrial users have brought barite-enriched concrete to the VESUVIO beamline to test the effectiveness of its radiation shielding at lower neutron energies
Muons give molecular insight into ISIS magnets
Using muons on HiFi, ISIS electrical engineer Ben Orton has been able to identify the behaviour of the charges within materials in the accelerator magnet dielectrics at an atomic scale.
Getting cold at ISIS
With the UK feeling the chill, we go behind the scenes with the ISIS cryogenics group to learn how they support the growing demand for ultra-low temperature experiments.
Adapting the ISIS targets to run at higher power
Before lockdown, High Power Targets Group engineer Dan Wilcox was running analysis for targets at TS1 and TS2. We got in touch with him to speak to about current work and future innovation in target design within ISIS.
Using a bead to test the conditions for a beam
After many years of design and engineering, the new ISIS Linac tank 4 is nearing the final stages of testing.
TS1 project flask design and manufacture continues
The Target Station 1 project at ISIS has managed to progress, despite lockdown restrictions.
Retiring NINA after almost 50 years
The project to replace the NINA choke, a key component of the ISIS accelerator, has reached completion, with two successful user cycles completed by the replacement choke system.
From instrument support to supporting front line workers
The ISIS Operations Instrument Support team have been producing visors for local NHS services, pharmacies and care workers.
ISIS technicians support rapid ventilator production
Forty STFC technicians are forming part of a national collaboration that’s producing ventilators for the NHS; developing and delivering the training needed for over 300 others to carry out the necessary testing and calibration.
Reflecting on the progress of the TS1 Project
Another milestone has been reached for the ISIS TS1 Project with the arrival of the new modular Reflector assembly. This half a ton block of beryllium arrived on 04 December.
TS1 Project milestone reached
The Target Station 1 project at ISIS is celebrating a big milestone as the first target assembly using a new design is completed.
Turning up the heat on Polaris
A new induction furnace is being developed on Polaris as the result of a collaboration between Aarhus University, ISIS Crystallography Group, the ESS and Chalmers University of Technology.
Making MAPS on a grander scale
December 2017 saw the completion of the MAPS instrument modernisation programme, resulting in an increase in flux that reduces the time needed for certain experiments from a week down to a single day.