RI Research Instruments awarded contract for high-power RF couplers for European XFEL in consortium with Thales

BERGISCH GLADBACH, GERMANY: RI Research Instruments GmbH (RI), a majority-owned subsidiary of Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies, Inc. (BEST), has announced a new contract from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France for the supply of 670 high-power radio frequency (rf) couplers for the European XFEL project.

This 14.8 million Euro (approximately $20 million USD) contract has been awarded to a project consortium of Thales Electron Devices (TED), located in Velizy, France, and RI Research Instruments, under the leadership of TED.

Each company contributes its specialized technological expertise, and RI’s financial share of the total contract is just under 50 percent. These rf couplers are expected to be delivered between the beginning of 2011 and the middle of 2013.

The European XFEL is designed with a 17.5 GeV linear accelerator which will use superconducting rf cavities and associated high-power rf couplers to deliver electron bunches for the generation of X-ray flashes in special magnetic undulators.

High-power rf couplers represent a key component of superconducting accelerating modules, and transfer the rf from the power source to the accelerating cavity. Several key, specialized RI technologies and process capabilities, such as the coating of metal or ceramic surfaces, vacuum brazing, tungsten inert gas (TIG) and electron beam welding, as well as clean room assembly, are applied to manufacture such rf couplers.

Dr. Michael Peiniger, Managing Director of RI Research Instruments, explained: “With Thales we have found a partner with excellent technical and management skills. Thales complements the RI know-how in this field, as demonstrated in more than 60 high-power rf couplers of similar design that RI has successfully delivered to CNRS and DESY in the past. Thales is a world leader in rf power sources, and RI is a leader in superconducting rf accelerator technology.”

Note: This rf coupler contract from CNRS is separate from, and in addition to, RI’s 24.9 million Euro XFEL superconducting rf cavities contract from DESY, announced on September 22, 2010.