RI and HZB sign tech-transfer cooperation agreement

RI Research Instruments (RI) and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have signed a collaboration agreement supporting the transfer of technology for superconducting accelerators into an industrial environment. The experts from the SupraLab at HZB will support their industrial colleagues in the design of the first industrial high-power superconducting electron accelerator, which will be used for production of Mo-99, an isotope helping tens of millions of patients every year. Together they will evaluate technologies like photocathode production, lasers for the electron beam generation and couplers bringing the radio-frequency waves needed for acceleration into the superconducting modules. A great example how technology designed for fundamental research finds its way to industrial applications.
The current Corona crisis might discourage others from starting new long-distance collaborations, but not us. We have used the flexibility of video conferences and already had many meetings where the experience from the HZB team was translated into the industrial environment of RI.
Come 2021 these designs will be real and allow testing of the most critical components before they are used in the industrial machine.