Supply and Demand

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Electron-Ion Collider

Support Orgs | Dept. Codes

By Mona S. Rowe

Connecting with Vendors at NSLS/CFN Users' Meeting

April 23, 2013

You may be diagnosing a beam or designing a beamline or doing just about anything in between at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), NSLS-II or Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN). Nancye Wright, Photon Sciences User Administration Office, has organized a wide range of vendors for you to visit at the 2013 NSLS/CFN Joint Users' Meeting, coming up on May 20-22.

Among them is Key High Vacuum Products, a local manufacturer of ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and high vacuum hardware since 1976. "We offer a comprehensive selection of thousands of components, including innovative items such as oil-mist eliminators, inlet traps, dry-ice traps, gas flex-delivery hoses, and UHV view-port safety covers," said Anthony Kozyrski. He's especially proud of the company's model shop, which is fully equipped to handle custom-fabricated weldments, chambers and valves "for unique situations."

Key High recently fabricated specialized vacuum chambers for stripline kickers, which help dampen vibration on the stored electron beam at NSLS-II. Photon Sciences mechanical engineer Bernie Kosciuk said, "I thought we had a vacuum leak, so I called AJ and he came right over. There was nothing wrong, but that's the kind of service you can enjoy when you have a local vendor."

Said Kozyrski, "Key High has had a long and productive relationship with Brookhaven Lab. It's nice to be a part of something that is for the greater good." He added, "We like sitting down and working with the engineers and users at all phases of a project. There is no substitute for having people meet face-to-face as a project evolves."

Based in California is MICRONIX USA, which supplies micro- and nano-positioning equipment with a focus on the synchrotron and research markets. "We address many of the demanding requirements for this field, offering a full range of precision positioners and control electronics as well as complete system integration services," said company president Manfred Schneider. "Additionally, we are the premier supplier of precision positioning parts for environments with vacuum to 10-10 torr, for clean rooms, and in extreme temperature applications."

Schneider has been coming to the NSLS/CFN users' meeting since 2006, when he started the U.S. subsidiary of MICOS Germany as a co-owner. He later bought out his German partners and renamed the company. MICRONIX USA products operate in vacuum down to UHV and in radiation environments. They can be made with non-magnetic properties.

"I take special pride in designing and manufacturing all our products in the United States," he said, which distinguishes MICRONIX USA from all its major European-based competitors in the piezo-positioning arena.

Schneider noted that the interaction with actual users at the annual meetings provides good feedback and results in product enhancements. "I also take great joy in learning about the cutting-edge research presented by world-renowned scientists," he said.

Norman Niewrzella, Carl Zeiss Laser Optics, is making the trip to Long Island from Oberkochen, Germany. "We want to stay in close contact with the users and beamline-scientists. We need this open dialogue to respond to all individual needs of our customers," said Niewrzella. "This is also an opportunity for personal meetings, which cannot always be replaced by email conversations."

Carl Zeiss Laser Optics manufactures synchrotron mirrors, implementing powerful metrology and manufacturing techniques to make highest-quality optical components for synchrotron radiation and other x-ray applications.

The company recently supplied a large set of grating blanks for NSLS. According to Niewrzella, Carl Zeiss Laser Optics supplies leading-edge synchrotron mirrors for beam guidance with a large number of different profiles and coatings as well as ultra-precise grating blanks, which are used for high-performance monochromators around the world. "We are always open for challenging geometries and substrate shapes," said Niewrzella.

Sponsors are highlighted on the users' meeting website, which also lists the vendors represented at the 2013 meeting. The meeting's program will contain a list of all vendors and their specific locations in Berkner Hall, Bldg. 488, and outside the Hamilton Seminar Room in the Chemistry Department, Bldg. 555.

For the agenda and more information about the 2013 NSLS/CFN Joint Users' Meeting, go here. A late registration fee will apply for those registering after May 3.