Tomsk Polytechnic University, together with partners, will develop one of the stations for the Siberian Ring Source of Photons (SKIF). This will be the Microfocus station. This is the first SKIF station in the internal numbering of the project and the third one in order of launching production. The station will be able to study micro-objects up to 200 nanometers in size thanks to an advanced X-ray beam focusing system. Its specialization will be X-ray microscopy and microtomography, combined with high-resolution scanning X-ray fluorescence analysis and structural studies of crystals under high pressure. Construction of the plant has already begun. The work is going to be completed in the summer of 2024. By the end of 2024, constructors plan to complete the mechanical and commissioning work at the SKIF experimental hall. The total weight of the future plant is more than 70 tons. Its cost is estimated at more than 1 billion rubles.
Photo: SKIF PR office
The partners of TPU in the creation of scientific and experimental equipment for the SKIF were Novosibirsk State Technical University (NSTU NETI), the Institute for Physics of Microstructures RAS, and the V. S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy. TPU acts as an integrator.
The construction of SKIF is one of the largest research infrastructure projects in Russia in recent decades. The project’s core is a generation 4+ synchrotron radiation source belonging to the megascience class. The source parameters can be called a record for world science. In fact, it is a large microscope that implements the widest range of physical and chemical analysis methods for research in materials science, medicine, and many other areas. The construction of a synchrotron source is still ongoing in the Koltsovo science city, Novosibirsk Region. According to plans, it will be completed in 2024.
“The creation of the Siberian Ring Source of Photons in Novosibirsk is a challenge for the Russian scientific community and a megascience platform that has no analogues in the world. For us, participation in the project is a great honor and responsibility. TPU has been cooperating with colleagues from the SKIF project and working on the topic of synchrotron methods for more than two years. TPU has extensive experience in X-ray engineering, control of synchrotrons, and pulsed beams.
In the very near future, work on the initial design of the future plant and the creation of a prototype sample will be completed. The sample is a computer model with high detail,”
Dmitry Sednev, TPU rector and a member of the SKIF Scientific Coordinating Council, says
The specialization of the Microfocus station is related to the characterization of the properties and composition of materials, geology, mineralogy, the study of cores, natural and artificial structures. In total, SKIF will have six stations of the first stage for conducting research in various fields of science. In the future, their number is expected to be increased to 30.
“SKIF is a project for whose implementation there will be enough tasks for scientific and industrial teams from different regions of Russia. We are glad that our colleagues from TPU have joined it.
By working on the station for SKIF, TPU is making a contribution both to the near future and to the prospects for the future, because other megascience plants will be created in Russia.
Thus, SKIF is a flagship project that develops a very wide range of technologies and around which a community of scientific and high-tech organizations is formed that are capable of solving such problems," Valery Bukhtiyarov, a director of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the RAS and an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes.
When creating the station, TPU specialists will carry out most of the design and engineering tasks. University specialists will develop systems for measuring and controlling the beam parameters, as well as for visualization, data collection and processing, and related software. Also, scientists will carry out general control and assembly of the station and integrate devices and software developed by partners.
“At the Microfocus station, created by TPU, a powerful X-ray beam from a synchrotron source will be assembled into a tiny focal spot up to 200 nanometers in size, with the possibility of reducing it four times in the future. This will make it possible to obtain a record high radiation density at the location of the test sample. There are no such plants in the world.
This plant will allow researchers to conduct three-dimensional studies at the micro- and nanoscale in dynamics at high pressures of up to 300 GPa. This means that scientists will be able to do more than just routine research at the request of industry; they will be able to look ahead and study phase and chemical transformations in dynamics, rather than just observe their results," says Alexei Gogolev, director of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics.
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The Siberian Ring Source of Photons Center for Collective Use of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the RAS's Siberian Branch is a mega-science class project that includes a 4+ generation synchrotron.
There are 34 buildings and structures in the center. Also, there is engineering and technological equipment that ensures the implementation of scientific research on synchrotron radiation beams.
The unique characteristics of the new synchrotron will allow cutting-edge research with bright and intense X-ray beams in a variety of fields; chemistry, physics, materials science, biology, geology, and the humanities. Also, SKIF will help solve the urgent problems of innovative and industrial enterprises.
The Siberian Ring Source of Photons is being developed as part of the Russian Science and Universities national project to build a modern domestic network of new generation synchrotron radiation sources.