Technical Description
The Bellotti Ion Beam Facility (IBF) is a LNGS user facility open to external scientific proposals. It is named in honour of Enrico Bellotti, the first director of the Gran Sasso Laboratory. Thanks to his foresight Enrico Bellotti gave rise to activities with accelerators in underground laboratories by encouraging the installation of LUNA 50 kV, a small underground accelerator for the study of nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest [1] .
The Bellotti IBF was inaugurated in October 2023 (https://www.lngs.infn.it/en/news/inaugurazione-ibf).
Located in the deep underground laboratory of the LNGS, the Bellotti IBF makes it possible to carry out ion beam experiments in an environment characterized by a cosmic radiation flux reduced by a million compared to that of a laboratory located on the Earth's surface. Therefore, this facility opens new frontiers not only in the field of nuclear astrophysics and nuclear physics, but also in applied sciences.
The strongpoint of the Bellotti IBF is a 3.5 MV Singletron accelerator. The machine was funded as part of an "Award Project" by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR). The project originated from a proposal of the LUNA Collaboration [2], which has been carrying out research with accelerators (LUNA 50kV, LUNA 400kV [3]) at LNGS underground laboratories since more than 20 years.
The technical management of the accelerator is assigned to the Accelerator Service specifically established within the LNGS Research Division.
More details on the facility and its scientific potential can be found in [4], [5] and [6].
Characteristics and access modes
Bellotti Ion Beam Facility
Main Parameters of the 3.5MV Singletron accelerator
Calls for Proposals
Calls for experiments at the Bellotti IBF are issued each year.
The 1st call for proposals of experiments with the 3.5 MV Accelerator of the Bellotti Ion Beam Facility was successfully closed on October, 30 2023.
The 2nd call for proposals has been published on June, 30 2024 (deadline August 18, 2024) DOWNLOAD CALL
Proposals may cover nuclear astrophysics as well as applied sciences. Further details will be made available on this page along with the publication of the call for proposals.
The proposals will be evaluated by the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) established within the LNGS Scientific Committee (https://www.lngs.infn.it/en/scientific-committee).
Currently, the PAC is composed of:
Giacomo Cuttone – Chair (INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy)
Faïrouz Hammache ( IJCLab – Orsay, France)
Jordi Josè (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) BarcelonaTech, Spain)
Support for Transnational Access from ChETEC INFRA
Following a very well received presentation of the Bellotti IBF at the 4th General Assembly of ChETEC-INFRA in Strasbourg, France, the Bellotti Ion Beam Facility is provisionally accepted as the 14th Transnational Access Facility of ChETEC-INFRA.
While the inclusion of the Bellotti IBF in ChETEC-INFRA is still pending final approval by the European Commission, applicants for beamtime in the 2nd call for experiments at the Bellotti IBF have the possibility to apply for Trans National Access (TNA) support from ChETEC-INFRA.
The ChETEC-INFRA call is open until August 17, 2024.
These proposals will be evaluated in parallel by two bodies: the ChETEC-INFRA User Selection Panel and the PAC of the Bellotti IBF. If both boards approve the proposal and the EU approves the inclusion of Bellotti in ChETEC-INFRA, beam time and travel support will be provided.
References
[1] Status report on the project Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA) C. Arpesella, C. Barnes, E. Bellotti et al., Nuclei in the Cosmos, Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Nuclear Astrophysics, held in Karlsruhe, Germany, 6-10 July 1992, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003062974
[1] LUNA Collaboration Web Page: https://luna.lngs.infn.it
[2] The LUNA II accelerator A. Formicola, G. Imbriani, M. Junker et al; Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A 2003; DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/s0168-9002(03)01435-9
[3] A High Intensity, High Stability 3.5 MV Singletron™ accelerator, A. Sen , G. Domínguez-Cañizares, N.C. Podaru, .J.W. Mous, M. Junker , G. Imbriani, V. Rigato; Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B 2019; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2018.09.016
[4] Underground Ion Beam Facility close to inauguration at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso – Italy, Appecc news, https://www.appec.org/news/underground-ground-ion-beam-facility-close-to-inauguration-at-laboratori-nazionali-del-gran-sasso-italy
[5] The deep underground Bellotti Ion Beam Facility—status and perspectives, M. Junker, G. Imbriani, A. Best, A. Boeltzig, A. Compagnucci, A. Di Leva, F. Ferraro, D. Rapagnani, V. Rigato (2023), The deep underground Bellotti Ion Beam Facility—status and perspectives. Front. Phys. 11:1291113. doi: 10.3389/fphy.2023.1291113