Endeavour Updates
16 Aug 2024
Yes
-  

 

 

 

No

​​​

 

July 2025 - HRPD R69 demolished

The building R69 that housed the HRPD instrument has been demolished to make way for the new buiding that will be built in its place.

R69 from newsletter.jpgr69 cabin from newsletter.jpg

July 2025 - Super MuSR electrode high voltage testing

High voltage testing is underway for the precursor to the Super MuSR ​spin rotator electrodes. You can read more about the Super MuSR spin rotators and electrodes in this article. The team are using a simplified version of the spin rotator so that they can test the setup and all the individual components. The electrodes need to be extremely clean and are tested under vacuum. Therefore, all the assembly has been done in a clean room tent, set up in the Super MuSR pre-build area.  ​

Three men in clean room suits working on a pressure vessel in a tentTwo men in clean room suits working on a pressure vessel

March 2025 - HRPD decant progressing

After the last users of HRPD finished their experiment in December, the instrument is being dismantled ahead of the planned demolition of the building to make way for the HRPD-X upgrade. The photograph below shows some of the technical staff involved in the decant.

HRPD2.jpg ​

February 2025 - Super MuSR pulse slicer

The pulse slicer removes the ends of each pulse of muons approaching the spectrometer, reducing the pulse width from ~100ns to 10ns. This increases the magnetic fields that Super-MuSR can measure. The Supe​r MuSR pulse slicer was designed by Akanay Avaroglu (pictured, below left) and is currently being machined by Jamie Searis (pictured, below right)

25EC1093 R78 Pulse Slicer.jpg

February 2025 - Partnership with Italy signed

ISIS and the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) have signed a new partnership agreement. This agreement will see the two organisations working together to upgrade the Tosca instrument, as part of Endeavour.​

December 2024 - Last users on HRPD​​

Lexy Gillette and Lemuel Crentsil from the University of Oxford were the last external users of the HRPD instrument before it closes for its major upgrade as part of the Endeavour programme. ​

HRPD has been part of the ISIS instrument suite from the very beginning and was one of the first ISIS instruments​ to collect data. In December​, a group from the University of Oxford were the last users on the beamline before its demolition and rebuild as part of the HRPD-X project. Lexy Gillette and Lemuel Crentsil are part of Professor Simon Clarke's group at the University of Oxford, st​udying mixed anion chalcogenides. Neutron experiments enable them to see the position of the oxygen ions within the structure of these materials, as well as study their magnetic properties.

This will be the final user cycle for HRPD, with the demolition of the instrument and its building beginning in the new year. The HRPD-X project will then begin, with the aim of commissioning the instrument towards the end of 2027. 
24EC9487 ISIS Users - HRPD.jpg

November 2024 - SuperMuSR water return panel

The latest shutdown saw the installation of a new water return panel for the south side muons, which has extr capacity, ready for SuperMuSR. ​

September 2024 - SuperMuSR detector testing

5X6A0637.JPGIn September, the SuperMuSR team used the MuSR beamline over a two-week intensive testing period to study the new detector blocks, as well as the electronics and readout system needed to control and measure them. The testing involved Andrea Abba and Francesco Caponio from Nuclear Instruments, who have supplied these control systems. This made them the first official SuperMuSR users on the proposal system! 

“We confirmed the electronics were stable, resilient against noise and able to measure muon signals even when in a large magnetic field,” explains Dan Pooley (pictured, right), who is leading on the detector development for SuperMuSR. “The tests were very successful demonstrating that the system will work well when we scale up to the full detector barrel next year.” 

They were also able to successfully test the cooling system, and a novel method for ensuring the system is continuously calibrated. 

September 2024 – Celebration for completing HRPD-X ​building design stage

On 17 September, the HRPD-X team got together to celebrate the design of the new building finishing stage three of eight of the Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA) plan of work. This means that the layout of the building is now confirmed, and the team can progress with designing the detailed interior. Over 40 ISIS staff have been involved in the process so far, working closely with the STFC Estates team. 

August 2024 - SuperMuSR detector design review​

The final design review for the detector stave for Super MuSR. This will be followed by testing of a final prototype in September which may inform some small design changes required before manufacture for the whole barrel begins.

A group of people standing in front of a screen saying SuperMuSR - Stave FDR

July 2024 - UKRI CEO visit

​The CEO of UK Research and Innovation, Professor Ottoline Leyser, visited ISIS on 24 July 2024, met the Super MuSR team and saw examples of the new detector technology.​

24EC6286 UKRI Wed webinar @ RAL.jpg24EC6282 UKRI Wed webinar @ RAL.jpg 

July 2021 - User meetings

In July 2021 a series of user meetings was held to present and discuss the Endeavour Programme projects.​ Talks describing each project were given by members of the user community - you can see r​ecordings of these talks on the Endeavour Programme User Meetings web page.

Contact: de Laune, Rosie (STFC,RAL,ISIS)