Thin-disk laser (TDL) oscillators generate directly ultrashort pulses at megahertz repetition rates and high average powers. Achievable peak powers in the mega-watt level make it a promising driver for nonlinear experiments. Recent progress of mode locking via the Kerr effect enabled the generation of pulses with durations as short as Yb-doped bulk oscillators. We present the status about our...
Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have matured as key-enabling devices for various applications in the mid-IR spectral region between 3-12 µm. They range from food-safety and medical diagnosis to spectroscopy of trace-gas molecules. We will review our recent work on developing highly-integrated and miniaturized laser-detector systems for spectroscopy including bi-functional active region designs...
We present a provisional design of a compact synchrotron light source producing EUV radiation for application in the semiconductor industry. EUV light sources are of great potential interest for this industry. The availability of highly reflective mirrors at 13.5 nm wavelength makes EUV lithography a strong candidate for next generation semiconductor manufacture. Our design is based on a...
Helium clusters produced via supersonic jet expansions in ultra-high vacuum have wide range of size distributions. Nevertheless, their narrow and size independent velocity distribution has been employed as a key factor for size selection. In this study, same is achieved through passing the ionized helium droplets through deflection in a 90° cylindrical electrostatic sector. This allows precise...
Nanoindentation has become a popular method for determining Young’s Modulus (E) of materials. Though for most materials this method has been successfully applied, significant errors of the results can occur if materials respond unfavorably to standard indentation parameters. This paper presents an investigation of the effects of nanoindentation on Yttria-stabilized Zirconia compared to bulk...
The presentation provides an overview of the current developments in superconducting magnets for applications in proton and ion therapy gantries. It summarizes the benefits and challenges regarding the utilization of these magnets from the economical, infrastructural and technical points of view. The options for material choice, magnet geometry, cooling system and beam optics design are...
Icing of heat exchangers is a commonly observed phenomenon. It subsequently leads to blocking of the air flow and reduced heat transfer capabilities. We focus on the experimental characterization of heat exchanger icing using transient weight measurements and image capturing and extraction techniques. We then compare these observations with numerical simulations on a small symmetric section of...
Over the past years there have been several approaches to find positioning techniques in indoors environments. Methods based on Bluetooth beacons, Wi-Fi and other infrastructures are common but come with high installation and recurrent maintenance costs.
This work attempts to exploit geomagnetic field distortions caused by a building’s ferromagnetic structural elements for landmark detection...
With increasing resolution of regional climate models (RCMs), glaciers may now cover substantial portions of climate model grid cells. This study thus aims at explicitly resolving glaciers in RCMs.
A methodology based on the mosaic approach has been developed to include the heterogeneity of glaciers surface characteristics in glaciers mass balance simulations and surface energy fluxes...
The heat and particles that exit the core region of magnetically confined fusion plasmas typically get deposited on a narrow layer on the vessel wall, resulting in peak heat fluxes that can attain levels above today’s technological limits. A promising solution to address this challenge is to stimulate volumetric momentum and power losses in the plasma boundary region and to establish a regime...
Understanding the turbulent plasma dynamics in the edge region of magnetically confined fusion plasmas is crucial to assure adequate energy confinement and acceptable levels of plasma-wall interaction. Unfortunately, experimental insights are often hampered by limited diagnostics information. To overcome some of these limitations, a Reciprocating Divertor Langmuir Probe Array (RDPA) is...
Plasma shaping in tokamaks, influencing energy confinement and plasma stability, is of paramount importance for the design of future fusion reactors for energy production. An improved controller for the plasma vertical instability is developed and integrated on the TCV digital control system. For its design a simplified control oriented tokamak model and loop shaping techniques are applied in...
The ITER actuator controllers will need numerical test and tuning with a “tokamak simulator” based on 1.5MHD equilibrium/transport model, ideally during pre-shot operation.
Coupling the equilibrium code LIUQE and transport code RAPTOR, the fastest available to our knowledge in their categories, would provide a fast and control oriented simulator for this purpose.
A stable, flexible and fast...
The Neutral Beam (NB) system for ITER will deliver an ion beam with energy of 1 MeV and current of 40 A. Only NB systems based on negative ions can attain the neutralization efficiency required for the NB system in ITER. Helicon plasmas are a promising candidate for the production of negative ions. The RAID (Resonant Antenna Ion Device) at the Swiss Plasma Center represents a crucial step in...
DC bias diode and DC magnetron plasma sputtering are used at CERN for niobium thin film deposition on copper radio-frequency accelerating cavities.
A dedicated test bench has been developed to perform detailed plasma characterization in these two sputtering configurations. It consists of a cylindrical magnetron assembly, in which two swept Langmuir probes actuated by independent rotation and...
The AWAKE experiment at CERN aims to create GV/m plasma wakefields over a length of 10 m by using a self-modulated 400 GeV/c proton drive beam. The first AWAKE run is dedicated to study the Self-Modulation Instability. The two-screen measurement aims to measure the radial proton beam distribution 2m and 10m downstream the end of the plasma to show that protons get defocused in the order of 1...
