New undulator for ASTRID2 opens up new possibilities for quantum materials research

Have you ever tried moving a double bed down a narrow staircase from the fourth floor?

Now imagine that the bed is three metres tall, weighs ten tonnes, and is fitted with a series of sensitive magnets that must not be damaged.

That gives some idea of what it was like when the Department of Physics and Astronomy received a new APPLE II undulator for the ASTRID2 particle accelerator.

“It had to be transported here by lorry from Zurich, then carefully lowered through a narrow shaft into the basement and moved along an even narrower corridor to the accelerator hall. It had to be gently laid on its side, and we had to cut a hole in a wall in order to turn it around down there,” says accelerator physicist Heine Dølrath Thomsen.

An undulator contains a series of magnets that cause the electrons in a particle accelerator to move along a wave-like path. As the electrons oscillate back and forth, they emit highly intense light, which researchers can use to study, for example, materials in extraordinary detail.

Associate Professor Jill Miwa took the initiative to bring the undulator to the department. For her, it opens up new research opportunities.

Her group studies quantum materials and small devices made from them. Until now, this type of experiment has often required travelling to other, larger facilities, for example in Lund or Paris.

“The new undulator will allow us to examine materials with a much sharper and more sensitive view. The data will reveal details in the materials that we simply could not see before. Having access to the same experiments in our own laboratory gives us entirely new opportunities and advantages, and I am therefore really looking forward to carrying out these new experiments locally,” she says.

The undulator was bought second-hand from the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and has been on the department’s wish list for a very long time.

“We were extremely excited for it to arrive. We have long dreamed of having an undulator of this type at ASTRID2. It is a piece of equipment of the finest German-Swiss quality, which we have been fortunate enough to purchase at a good price. It is a bit like finding a classic Porsche at a flea market or on Den Blå Avis,” says Heine Dølrath Thomsen.

He stresses that the risks involved in buying used instruments are offset by the department’s experienced technical teams, who have been involved throughout the process to ensure that the undulator is in good condition and properly looked after.

With support from both the Carlsberg Foundation and Bøje Kran- & Maskintransport A/S, the operation succeeded. The undulator now stands — undamaged — in front of ASTRID2 in the department’s basement. It will not be installed until January, during a planned shutdown of the accelerator ring.