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Division of systems engineering

Institute of research into the fundamental laws of the Universe

An original use of the AMITEX code for the simulation of superconducting cables

Apr 25, 2023

An original use of the AMITEX code for the simulation of superconducting cables

Low-temperature superconducting materials are widely used in high-field magnets, but their behaviour is closely related to the strains they undergo. Consequently, studies on the impact of stress on mechanical structures are essential. The SUPRAMITEX project is participating in this research effort by using the AMITEX-FFTP parallel code developed as part of the SIMU/MATIX project to carry out non-linear mechanical simulations on heterogeneous microstructures.

Mar 10, 2023

MACQU passes its tests successfully

The MADMAX project, which was launched in November 2016, is led by the Max Planck Institut für Physik in collaboration with several European institutes. The goal of the project is the discovery of axions with a mass of about 100 µeV, potential candidates for dark matter. To detect these axions, it is necessary to develop a specific detector consisting of an electromagnetic signal amplifier and a magnet proportional to the size of the amplifier and delivering a strong magnetic field.

MACQU passes its tests successfully

First MIRI image in its test phase

Apr 29, 2022

First MIRI image in its test phase

On the evening of the 28th, we could read on NASA's blog: "It's official, the alignment of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is now complete"! To say that all the instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope are perfectly aligned, means that the primary mirror is well adjusted. The images are already breathtaking while the adjustment phase of all the elements of the telescope is not finished yet.

Apr 14, 2022

Team glimpses before a long journey

The Eclairs and MXT instruments of the SVOM mission delivered to CNES-Toulouse

The French teams of the ECLAIRs and MXT telescopes, instruments at the heart of the SVOM mission, experienced an important moment during March 2022. First, a general review of the two projects took place at CNES in Toulouse in front of a group of experts. This review allowed to verify that the two instruments meet the technical specifications and will be able to carry out the scientific mission.

Team glimpses before a long journey

The ANTARES adventure

Apr 11, 2022

The ANTARES adventure

On February 12, 2022, the ANTARES neutrino telescope (Astronomy with a Neutrino Telescope and Abyss environmental RESearch) put an end to its data taking started in 2007. During 15 years, thousands of neutrinos, precious elusive particles witnesses of the cataclysmic phenomena of the Universe, were detected at 2500 m in the Mediterranean abyss.

Mar 03, 2022

Tests of a high power Beryllium (Be) target and first neutron diffraction measurements on the IPHI-neutron source

The objective of the realization of efficient compact neutron sources is to make it possible to perform neutron scattering experiments, with practically the same qualities as those carried out with neutron beam lines from research reactors of the Orphée type*. These compact sources are obtained from a protons beam of medium-energy (3-50 MeV) and high current (100 mA) impinging on a light element target as beryllium. This interaction creates a neutron emission.

$Tests of a high power Beryllium (Be) target and first neutron diffraction measurements on the IPHI-neutron source$

GLAD and COCOTIER : IRFU cryogenics at GSI

Jun 04, 2021

GLAD and COCOTIER : IRFU cryogenics at GSI

Two state-of-the-art instruments, GLAD and COCOTIER, were designed and built at Irfu in the last few years and are now operational in the R3B experimental room of the GSI heavy ion accelerator (Darmstadt, Germany). Both are intended to be part of the equipment that will be used at FAIR, the new machine under construction at the GSI site. GLAD is a large acceptance spectrometer for the analysis of relativistic radioactive heavy ion beam reactions.

Jun 01, 2021

ESO validates the design of the ICAR cryomechanisms for the METIS instrument on the ELT

The ICAR cryomechanisms that will equip the METIS instrument on the world's largest telescope, the ELT, by 2029 have just passed the final design review by an ESO expert committee.

Resulting from a product lineage initiated in 1997 for the developments linked to the VISIR project (VLT Imager and Spectrometer for mid Indra Red), the CEA's cryomechanisms named ICAR (Indexed Cryogenic Actuator for Rotation) will equip the METIS instrument on the largest telescope in the world: the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) by 2029.

ESO validates the design of the ICAR cryomechanisms for the METIS instrument on the ELT

A lobster eye to track cosmic explosions

May 28, 2021

A lobster eye to track cosmic explosions

The MXT camera for the SVOM mission has just been assembled and delivered by the CEA

An X-ray camera, intended to equip the Sino-French SVOM satellite, has just been assembled and delivered by scientists and technicians from the Institute for Research on the Fundamental Laws of the Universe (CEA/Irfu). This high-tech prototype will capture high-energy photons (X-rays) emitted during the explosion of massive stars or the fusion of dense stars. The camera, particularly compact and innovative, integrates in a very limited volume, a complete detection chain, an active thermal control and a filter wheel.

May 19, 2021

SIRIUS, the faithful companion of S3

IRFU engineers and physicists and their collaborators have just completed the development of a modern Sirius, a key element of the super spectrometer separator (S³) under construction at GANIL.

The ancients understood that heroes, like Orion with Sirius, need their faithful companion. IRFU engineers and physicists and their collaborators are no exception to the rule and have just completed the development of a modern Sirius, a key element of the super spectrometer separator (S3) under construction at GANIL. The tests having been successful and the system has been moved to GANIL for its final installation.

SIRIUS, the faithful companion of S3

First test successful for the insertion quadrupole “MQYYM” for the HL-LHC project

Mar 26, 2021

First test successful for the insertion quadrupole “MQYYM” for the HL-LHC project

The large aperture (90 mm) quadrupole superconducting electromagnet for the CERN HL-LHC project, manufactured and tested at 4.2 K by the IRFU teams, reached its nominal gradient of 120 T/m (defined for 1.9 K) the 5th of March, 2021. These very good results validate the design and manufacturing process proposed by the IRFU engineers and were the subject of a technology transfer to the industrial companies working on the European project QuaCo (QUAdrupoleCOrector).

Dec 15, 2020

Commissioning of the "Neutrons For Science" facility at GANIL

In December 2019, the NFS (Neutrons For Science) facility received its first proton beams, delivered by the linear accelerator of the new Spiral2 facility at the GANIL. On the fringes of the progressive commissioning of the accelerator in 2020, short beam periods were used to successfully test several NFS components. The first experiments are planned at the facility in the fall of 2021.

Commissioning of the

SPIRAL2 linac output: new beam power record

Dec 14, 2020

SPIRAL2 linac output: new beam power record

GANIL is commissioning its new superconducting linear accelerator (LINAC - Figure 1). This high-power accelerator provides GANIL with new possibilities in terms of beams for nuclear physics research. By providing beams with an intensity of up to 5 mA (3x1016 particles per second), the new SPIRAL2 (2nd generation on-line radioactive ion production system) LINAC will enable the GANIL's various scientific and technical programs to cross new frontiers.

Nov 13, 2020

The European Space Agency adopts Ariel mission: Irfu is the project manager of AIRS instrument

ESA has adopted Ariel (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey), the 4th medium-class space mission of its Cosmic Vision program. Ariel is expected to be launched in 2029 by Ariane 6 from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. The French team, composed of CNES, CEA and CNRS, has taken charge of the design, production and delivery of the AIRS spectrometer. Pierre Olivier Lagage, astrophysicist at Irfu, is one of the 2 co-PI for the ARIEL consortium; the other co-PI is Jean-Philippe Beaulieu from IAP.

The European Space Agency adopts Ariel mission: Irfu is the project manager of AIRS instrument

SARAF: Delivery of the medium energy line, MEBT to Soreq-Israel

Sep 02, 2020

SARAF: Delivery of the medium energy line, MEBT to Soreq-Israel

On October 28, 2014, CEA signed a contract with the Israeli research center in Soreq (SNRC) for the construction of a accelerator called SARAF (SOREQ Applied Research Accelerator Facility) by IRFU teams. This agreement is materialized by preliminary and detailed study phases over a period of 18 months (2015 and 2016) opening up to a construction, testing and installation phase on the site that will last 6 years.

Jul 15, 2020

The homogeneity of the magnetic field of the Iseult magnet on good rails...

In order for the images produced by the future MRI to be free of distortions or artifacts, the magnetic field generated by the Iseult magnet must be homogeneous to 0.5 PPM (parts per million) around the patient's brain. To meet this challenging specification, it was necessary to provision means of "shimming" the field, i.e. of correcting all the small defects that would inevitably arise from the manufacturing process.

The homogeneity of the magnetic field of the Iseult magnet on good rails...

ELT/METIS instrument formally entering final design phase

Jun 04, 2020

ELT/METIS instrument formally entering final design phase

On May 18th 2020, ESO formally closed the preliminary design review of the ELT/METIS thermal infrared instrument. Following this important milestone, the instrument enters into the final design phase (phase C) in which the its design will be frozen just before its building.

Feb 18, 2020

Successful commissioning of SPIRAL2 at the end of 2019

Following SPIRAL2's commissioning authorization issued by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) on July 8, 2019, many crucial steps were successfully completed by the end of 2019. A first proton beam was accelerated to 33 MeV, the nominal energy by the SPIRAL2 linear accelerator (LINAC) and a first test experiment was achieved the Neutron For Science (NFS) experimental room. These first results in 2019 are very promising.

Successful commissioning of SPIRAL2 at the end of 2019

Euclid: Irfu delivers the VIS Focal Plane

Jan 23, 2020

Euclid: Irfu delivers the VIS Focal Plane

Arrived safely. The focal plane of the visible imager on the Euclid satellite has just been delivered by Irfu to the laboratory responsible for the instrument (MSSL/UK) to continue its integration into the satellite, which is scheduled to take off in 2022. The first studies of this focal plane have been carried out at Irfu since 2010 and after almost 10 years of development and testing, it was fully tested by Irfu in 2019. This Focal Plane is composed of 36 CDDs totalizing more than 600 million pixels.

Dec 19, 2019

Irfu plays Santa Claus in Sweden!

On December 4, 2019, mechanical reception of the RFQ provided by Irfu took place in the tunnel of the European Spallation Source (ESS) project in Lund, Sweden. Following the delivery of the RFQ on August 27, 2019, the installation immediately followed with the Irfu team present and guaranteeing its success over the following months.

Irfu plays Santa Claus in Sweden!

DESI opens its 5,000 eyes to the cosmos in a bid to track dark energy

Oct 28, 2019

DESI opens its 5,000 eyes to the cosmos in a bid to track dark energy

‘First light’ for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI): as the installation phase nears completion, this new instrument is due to undergo final tests before starting to create a giant map of the sky in early 2020, a mission that is scheduled to run for five years.

Jul 12, 2019

The installation of DESI, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, has just passed an important milestone: with 6 operational spectrographs on site, the minimum configuration required to meet the scientific objectives of the project has been reached. At the end, DESI will have 10 spectrographs and will commit itself from 2020 to the spectroscopic survey of 35 million galaxies and quasars, to study the dark component of the Universe.

DESI gears up!

DESI moves to Kitt Peak

Apr 11, 2019

DESI moves to Kitt Peak

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is intended to make the spectroscopic survey of 35 million galaxies and quasars from 2020 onwards, to study precisely the properties of dark energy. Its installation, started in 2018, has recently entered a new phase with the reception and assembly of the first two spectrographs out of the 10 that the instrument will include.

Dec 21, 2018

The 1rst ESS prototype cryomodule successfully passes the RF power test!

After more than 5 years of development, including 6 months of integration work of the 12,000 separate components to a complete cryomodule, the CEA-Irfu has just validated the technology of this complex system that reached the nominal ESS accelerating field in the 4 superconducting accelerating cavities.

The 1rst ESS prototype cryomodule successfully passes the RF power test!

MXT: Delivery of the camera Structural and Thermal Model

Nov 07, 2018

MXT: Delivery of the camera Structural and Thermal Model

A prototype of the MXT camera arrived at the CNES in Toulouse on 25 October 2018. This is the Structural and Thermal Model (STM), which will be integrated into the telescope that will be sent to China to be mounted on the SVOM satellite Qualification Model. The objective of this model is to validate the thermo-mechanical design of the camera. It also makes it possible to check the manufacturing and assembly capacity of the various components, which represent more than 1,000 elements.

Nov 07, 2018

The CLAS12 tracker, an IRFU success story

As part of the new CLAS spectrometer project for the 12 GeV electron energy upgrade of the Jefferson Lab (USA) IRFU has been conducting R&D for more than 10 years to design and build a new generation tracker, using thin and flexible MICROMEGAS detectors that are now operating with the new CLAS12 spectrometer. After one year of installation, this tracker is operational and meets the expected characteristics with more than 95% detection efficiency and a spatial resolution of less than 100μm.

The CLAS12 tracker, an IRFU success story

The first triplet of superconducting multipoles of the S3 spectrometer arrived in Ganil

Sep 21, 2018

The first triplet of superconducting multipoles of the S3 spectrometer arrived in Ganil

The first triplet of superconducting multipoles of the S3 Super Separator Spectrometer arrived at Ganil on August 29, 2018. S3 is one of the experiment rooms of the Spiral2 facility. The magnet, with a mass of 2.8 tonnes, is 1.8 m long and almost as high. This innovative type of magnet is very compact despite the number of optical functions it can generate (quadrupole, sextupole, octupole and dipole). It is the first of a series of seven to be delivered to the Ganil.

Mar 27, 2018

STEREO constrains the existence of a 4th neutrino

The STEREO experiment presented its first physics results at the 53rd Rencontres de Moriond1. STEREO is a neutrino detector made up of six scintillation liquid cells that has been measuring, since November 2016, the electronic antineutrinos produced by the Grenoble high neutron flux reactor 10 metres from the reactor core. The existence of a fourth neutrino state, called sterile neutrino, could explain the deficit in neutrino flux detected at a short distance from nuclear reactors compared to the expected value.

STEREO constrains the existence of a 4th neutrino

Nuclear fusion: French superconducting coils ready for the JT-60SA tokamak

Jan 31, 2018

Nuclear fusion: French superconducting coils ready for the JT-60SA tokamak

After the validation of the last superconducting toroidal field coils, the CEA's contribution to the construction of the Japanese JT-60SA Tokamak, dedicated to the study of nuclear fusion, is nearing completion. Ten of them (out of twenty) were manufactured under the responsibility of the CEA by GE Power in Belfort. These coils of nearly 16 tons each will fly to Naka in mid-February to join their sisters and integrate the structure of the Japanese Tokamak.

Dec 06, 2017

GBAR takes its first steps at the Cern

For more than 10 years now, Irfu physicists and engineers have been developing in Saclay the necessary equipment for the GBAR experiment, designed to test the behaviour of antimatter under terrestrial gravity. An important step has just been taken with the installation at the Cern of a new positron source using on an electron linac, and the transport to the Cern of the positron trapping system built at Saclay. The new source produced its first positrons on November 17, 2017.

GBAR takes its first steps at the Cern

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