Within the framework of the Priority 2030 program, the Novosibirsk State Technical University (NETI) team designed and manufactured unique scientific instruments for three stations of the first stage of the Siberian Ring Photon Source Center for Collective Use. On December 24, NSTU-NETI demonstrated high-tech equipment for synchrotron sources for the first time.
One of these devices is the beam exposure shutter for station 1-2 "Structural Diagnostics". Staff and students of the Department of Optical Information Technologies (ICU) of the Faculty of Physics and Technology of NSTU-NETI participated in its development. Among them are first–year undergraduates Denis Karpov, Oleg Kutkin and Alexander Burdilov.
The beam shutter is designed for very fast blocking of the synchrotron radiation beam (the opening/closing time is no more than 10 milliseconds). The shutter release rate determines the time during which synchrotron radiation will affect the sample under study and the detector. The device should reduce the radiation intensity by five orders of magnitude, that is, leave 0.001% of the initial power density. For this purpose, according to the Bouguer–Lambert–Baer law, the dependence of the ratio of the intensity of transmitted radiation to incident radiation on the thickness of a plate made of various materials at energies of 10-30 keV was calculated. The linear absorption coefficient was taken from the Henke tables. Based on the obtained dependencies, the optimal material and its thickness were determined. At the same time, the beam shutter should work in high vacuum conditions, that is, it is desirable that it does not have any rubbing parts, bearings, lubricants, etc. In addition, the shutter must be very reliable and work out millions of cycles. The only solution in such conditions is to use piezo actuators, which have sufficient speed and reliability without friction.
"Such devices used to be supplied to Russia from abroad, but now we have mastered the technology and solved this problem: the necessary calculations and simulations have been carried out, components available for delivery to Russia have been selected, design documentation has been developed taking into account our production capabilities, as well as software for gate control. As a result, we have mastered the development of a new type of device, and the students participating in the project have gained real-world experience in research and development," commented Marina Zavialova, Head of the OIT Department.
All the parts were manufactured at NSTU-NETI. KTI NP SB RAS Specialists also took part in the assembly of the shutter.