Magnetics Business & Technology - May/June 2023 - 24

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Big Magnets Require Big Deliveries
Precision measurements of neutron beta decay provide important
information about the Standard Model of particle physics and
permit sensitive searches for new physics. Presently, experiments
are limited to an accuracy level of 10-3. The new instrument
PERC is designed to improve the sensitivity of neutron
decay studies by one order of magnitude.
The superconducting magnet system is the main component.
About 12 meters long, it produces a magnetic field between 1
to 6T within a 30-35cm bore mostly in direction along its length.
This field is used to guide charged particles to detector systems,
separating them from the cold neutron beam. It contains an
8-meter long active volume in a homogeneous magnetic field
while the 6T magnetic filter improves systematics of the decay
measurements.
Photo by Wimmer Maschinentransporte GmbH
Some magnets are heavier than others. Handling them can be a
challenge, in this case tackled by Wimmer Maschinentransporte
of Germany. They can take longer to make, too. Two recent
examples from the engineering and manufacturing facilities of
Bilfinger Noell are the 13-ton monster PERC magnet shown, in
part, above, and a superconducting " Wiggler " recently delivered
to Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Now in place at the Technical University of Munich, the PERC
magnet system required several years of engineering and manufacturing
at Bilfinger Noell in Wurzburg, Germany before delivery
to its home. It resides at the university's Research Neutron
Source Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz and is the centerpiece of a new
experiment in low-energy particle physics.
" We are proud to have once again designed and manufactured
a key component for science in the field of particle physics, " said
Eckhard Theisen, Bilfinger Noell project manager, when it was
delivered.
The main section of PERC ready for delivery from Bilfinger Noell
The PERC facility, at the Mephisto beam line at the FRM II
research reactor of the Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), aims to
measure several observables in neutron decay with an order
of magnitude improvement in precision in order to determine
constants within the Standard Model of particle physics precisely
and to search with improved sensitivity for new physics beyond
it. The magnet system is the main component.
Superconducting Wiggler at Brookhaven National Laboratory (©2022
Bilfinger Noell GmbH)
In another demanding project, Bilfinger-Noell recently delivered
and installed a superconducting undulator, known as a Wiggler,
for the HEX beamline at Brookhaven National Laboratory on
Long Island, New York. Bilfinger-Noell and Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology (KIT) helped develop and optimize the device for its
scientific research duties.
24 Magnetics Business & Technology * May/June 2023
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Magnetics Business & Technology - May/June 2023

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