[News-releases] A First for Canada: B.C. Research Partnership has Global Impact

[Tim Meyer]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE					 APRIL 14, 2008,
9:00AM PDT

A First for Canada: B.C. R&D Partnership Hits Milestone and Enters Elite
"Superconducting" League

(Vancouver, B.C.) — A team of B.C. scientists and engineers drawn from the
TRIUMF laboratory and PAVAC Industries, Inc., announced today they have
entered into an elite league of groups worldwide able to manufacture
ultra-sophisticated superconducting accelerator technology.  The B.C. team
was able to fabricate, assemble, and test a high-tech device known as a
"superconducting radio-frequency cavity" or SRF cavity.  This success is a
first for Canada and registers the country into an exclusive group of only
five groups in the world with this coveted capability.  These
superconducting devices are assembled into modules to form next-generation
accelerators with applications in health care, environmental mitigation and
remediation, advanced materials science, and high-energy physics. 

"This milestone is truly significant," said TRIUMF director Nigel S.
Lockyer.  "The push for this technology started in particle-physics research
but it is growing in demand all over the world.  And Canada now has the
ability to compete for and contribute to that market."  This technology is
at the leading edge and rapidly expanding; laboratories around the world are
lining up to incorporate it into their future projects.  Literally tens of
thousands of the devices will be needed over the next decade. 

The superconducting accelerator modules are so technologically sophisticated
that until now, only four industry-based groups in the world have had the
capability to produce them.  The most challenging element is the cavity
itself, a hollow cylinder fashioned from pure niobium used to capture and
store radio-frequency energy (similar to that broadcast by a radio station).
Particles passing through the cavity receive a dramatic boost in energy.
Accelerated particle beams are used in semiconductor chip manufacturing,
sterilization and imaging in hospitals, and in many research laboratories
for probing the detailed structure of materials, molecules, or even atoms
and nuclei themselves.

The TRIUMF team was headed by Robert Laxdal who sought out PAVAC Industries,
Inc, in Richmond, B.C., for their expertise in the tricky step of careful
welding in a vacuum.  Laxdal said, "We developed the first stage of the
TRIUMF project using cavities fabricated in Italy; during the second stage
of the project, the TRIUMF/PAVAC partnership was formed with the goal to
develop a `Made in Canada’ solution."  PAVAC is a world leader in developing
commercial high-energy electron beam applications, most notably the PAVAC
LASTRON beam for Electron Beam Welding, which was integral to the
manufacture of the cavities.  

Speaking about PAVAC’s role in the project, president Ralf Edinger president
said, "Our goal is continuous and systematic improvement of this process as
applied to our particle-beam technology in order to make Vancouver a global
centre for accelerator and electron-beam technology."  The development of
this new industrial capability can be expected to have further large impacts
on broader sectors of science and industry.  For example, PAVAC is
commercializing Electron Beam Flue Gas Treatment for the conversion of
fossil-fuel emissions to fertilizer in large industrial facilities.  TRIUMF
is currently exploring a significant partnership with India for this
technology.

By combining the talents of the TRIUMF scientists and the PAVAC engineers,
the team was able to plan, design, and fabricate the first cavity.  About
twenty more cavities will be produced by the team to complete the expansion
of a heavy-ion superconducting linear accelerator at TRIUMF.

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MEDIA CONTACTS 

Dr. Nigel S. Lockyer
Director
TRIUMF
Phone: +1 604 222 7353
E-mail: lockyer at triumf.ca 	

Ralf Edinger
President
PAVAC Industries, Inc.
Phone: +1 604 231 0014
E-mail: ralf at pavac.com 

BACKGROUND:

The superconducting radio-frequency cavity was fashioned from pure niobium
and will be used to accelerate particles such as electrons, protons, or
ions.  Accelerators are used around the world not only in basic physics
research, but also in hospitals and industrial laboratories to generate
pencil beams of energy.  Accelerators are even used in x-ray generators,
both modern plasma and older cathode-ray tube TVs, and microwave ovens.  For
the next generation of accelerators, however, superconducting elements are
needed because they are able to store electromagnetic energy without
resistance.  The cavity stores up energy (typically similar to the radio
waves used in FM radio transmission, hence the term radio-frequency) and
when electrically charged particles pass through it, the particles receive
an accelerating kick that boosts their speed.  A series of these cavities
can be used to accelerate particles close to the speed of light.  

The skill set acquired to manufacture the cavities will be applied by PAVAC
for advanced pollution control applications.  PAVAC is pursuing the
commercialization of Electron Beam Flue Gas Treatment, a proven application
that converts fossil-fuel emissions from large industrial facilities into
fertilizer.  Subatomic-physics research has developed other technologies
that promise additional pollution control applications including the
environmental remediation of soil and water.  

TRIUMF is Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics.
Based in Vancouver, the facility is a world-class physics research
laboratory. TRIUMF hosts scientists from around the globe who conduct
fundamental research in advanced materials, life sciences, and particle and
nuclear physics to understand the building blocks of our world. It is funded
via a contribution through the National Research Council Canada with support
from the Province of British Columbia. TRIUMF is owned and operated as a
joint venture by a consortium of the following Canadian universities:
University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, Carleton University,
l’Université de Montréal, Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto,
and University of Victoria.  See http://www.triumf.ca 

PAVAC Industries, Inc. is a privately held Richmond, BC, based company with
a mission to be one of the top 3 commercial manufacturers worldwide,
delivering high-energy electron beam sources and advanced electron beam
accelerator technology.  PAVAC has developed commercial applications for
Electron Beam Rapid Manufacturing, Electron Beam Physical Vapour Deposition,
Electron Beam Flue Gas Treatment and Electron Beam Welding and
Micro-Machining.  PAVAC is Transport Canada Approved Maintenance
Organization (AMO #91-07).

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********************************************************
Timothy I. Meyer, Ph.D.
Head, Strategic Planning and Communications
TRIUMF
4004 Wesbrook Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 2A3
Tel: 604-222-7674
E-mail: tmeyer at triumf.ca
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