India Develops Beam Catcher for Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR)

Key facts

• The beam catcher for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) was designed by the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI) under the supervision of Bose Institute, the nodal institution for India's participation.
• The beam catcher absorbs remnants from primary heavy-ion beams of energy 0.4-1.5 GeV/nucleon, with an energy deposition of about 29 kJ per spill in the graphite absorber.
• The peak energy density in the absorber reaches 300 J/g per pulse, inducing thermal shock waves, a major design challenge.
• The first of three beam catcher units has reached the FAIR site in Darmstadt, Germany, and is awaiting installation.
• FAIR is expected to be the world's largest radioactive beam accelerator, with the first beam for users expected by 2027.
• Indian researchers are participating in the NUSTAR and CBM experiments at FAIR, and India's in-kind contributions include power converters, vacuum chambers, beam catchers, superconducting magnets, and detector systems.