OCEM Power system to help scientists uncover the origins of the universe at new FAIR facility in Germany

The machine will help power a particle accelerator at the international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research at the research lab GSI

OCEM Power Electronics has successfully completed on-site testing for the first of five power systems commissioned for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), a new particle accelerator at the GSI research center in Darmstadt, Germany, that will be used to study the evolution of the universe and the structure of matter.

The OCEM system will power a section of the accelerator called the “Collector Ring” that uses high-energy radio-frequency electrical pulses to manipulate a beam of accelerated ions. The process is called “debunching” and allows scientists to study the ions’ physical and chemical properties.   

The project posed special challenges because OCEM needed to create a power system that combined high speed and bandwidth with incredible precision. Last month, tests using a dummy load achieved their overall targets, meaning GSI can now apply a real load and continue developing its challenging system.  

GSI is the world’s foremost research institute investigating heavy ions such as antiprotons. The OCEM power system will help scientists understand how matter in the early universe evolved and why its structure exists the way it does.

The research will also likely produce specific applications, such as methods for studying the biological risks of radiation exposure to astronauts on extended space flights to Mars. GSI’s  heavy ion research has also led to a new therapy for treating tumors that employs precision beams in order to minimize damage to healthy tissue surrounding cancerous cells.

FAIR is an international research collaboration: once completed, 3,000 scientists from 50 countries will have access to its facilities. 

OCEM Power Electronics is proud to be part of this scientific project as an ideal partner for advanced and personalized power solutions in research centers around the world.

OCEM Power Electronics, since 1943 the specialist in Power Electronics.