The Gran Sasso National Laboratories are finalizing the institution of the Bellotti Ion Beam Facility (IBF), a deep underground open "user facility.". Thanks to its location within the underground laboratories, the Bellotti IBF will allow experiments to be performed in an environment characterized by a cosmic radiation flux reduced by a million compared to a laboratory on the Earth's surface. Therefore, this facility will potentially open new frontiers not only in the field of nuclear astrophysics and nuclear physics, but also in applied sciences.
In the first phase, a 3.5 MV Singletron accelerator will be operated within the Bellotti IBF. The commissioning of this machine is currently being completed in the underground laboratories of LNGS. The accelerator 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, which has been carrying out research with accelerators (LUNA 50kV, LUNA 400kV) at LNGS underground laboratories since more than 20 years.
Main Parameters of the 3.5MV Singletron accelerator
Calls will be issued annually to submit scientific proposals for the use of the beam available at the Bellotti IBF's 3.5 MV Singleton.
Proposals may address nuclear astrophysics, but also applied sciences.
Further details will be made available on this page along with the publication of the call for proposals.
Scientific 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)
The technical management of the accelerator is assigned to the LNGS Accelerator Service specifically established within the LNGS Research Division.
[1] 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
[2] LUNA Collaboration Web Page: https://luna.lngs.infn.it
[3] 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
[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