Diamond Light Source, the UK's national synchrotron facility, has chosen PULS power supplies to provide power for ten advanced 'beamlines' to be built at Harwell in Oxfordshire during the next six years. This is the latest phase of Diamond's development and is planned to bring the total number of beamlines in operation to 32 by 2017. PULS UK has been involved in the project since 2004 when there was a requirement for a high-reliability Din Rail power supply to deliver power to 600 corrector units.
Beamlines generate brilliant beams of light from infrared to X-rays and are used for a wide range of scientific and industrial research disciplines including structural biology, physics, chemistry, materials science and environmental sciences. The technology allows scientists to study objects such as molecules and atoms which are too small to be viewed using optical microscopes.
PULS power supplies provide 24v n+1 high-reliability control power to the large numbers of diverse pieces of equipment that go together to create a beamline. These are used to provide control, protection and instrumentation for various applications that make up a large part of the 22 beamlines' control structure. As well as this, they also provide bulk DC power for the 700 steering power supplies used to trim the electron beam around the ring as they travel at speeds approaching the speed of light.
Colin Abraham, Senior Power Supply Technician at Diamond Light said, "We applied rigorous cost testing and performance criteria to a number of manufacturers' products before making a decision to use PULS power supplies. They were chosen because they met our stringent selection criteria."