Why are these men smiling? It's 6:20 p.m., April 20, 1972, and they've just produced the Super HILAC's first full energy beam after over 14 months of rebuilding the HILAC. In the foreground, from left, are Bob Main, Glenn Seaborg, and Al Ghiorso. Visible behind them are Chet Hatch and Rudy Johnson, who were operating the machine when the beam was achieved. To the right is Bert Kortegaard, in charge of the electronic engineering design for the new machine. The Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (Hilac) is a unique machine, first built in 1957, modified to new capabilities in 1961 and again in 1965, currently (1969) facing another major conversion to provide better injection and beam control, and approaching an extensive conversion, by the spring of 1971, into a ?SuperHilac.' The idea for The Hilac (Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator) was originated by Dr. Glen T. Seaborg and Albert Ghiorso, who conferred with Drs. E. O. Lawrence and Luis W. Alvarez. They discussed building a machine to accelerate a 'pure' beam of heavy ions (originally, nuclei of atoms up to argon-40, element 18). In part, the machine was designed jointly by UCRL (UC Radiation Lab, now LBNL) and Yale University. Mechanical engineer in charge was Hayden Gordon. Heavy ions had previously been accelerated at the 60-inch cyclotron, but could not be freed of low-energy contamination. In the Hilac, heavy ions are accelerated without interference. Experimenters at the Hilac seek to synthesize new elements and isotopes of known elements. Another experiment is "scattering" studies: in these the behavior of the struck particles gives clues to nuclear make-up. The Hilac was later modified into the SuperHILAC, and eventually became the basis for the Bevalac, which combined the SuperHILAC and the Bevatron. The SuperHilac was finally shut down on December 23, 1992.
Citation Caption
Magnet, Vol.16, No.5, May 1972, p. 2
Date
4/72
People
Bert Kortegaard, Bob Main, Glenn Seaborg, Al Ghiorso, Chet Hatch, Rudy Johnson
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