General Lab Information

AFD Users' Place

Prior to Arrival at BNL

  1. To participate in an approved experiment, a guest number assignment is required. To obtain one, complete the BNL Guest Information System form. Non-US citizens should expect at least 60 days for processing.
  2. After you are issued a BNL guest number, complete as much of the online training as possible.
  3. Consult the Experimental Work Guide (PDF) for important information on planning experimental work and installations at an AFD facility.

Upon Arriving at BNL

  1. Report to the Guest, User & Visitor Center to receive BNL training, dosimetry badge and ID card.
  2. Complete AFD Awareness Training, given by the AFD Safety Officer. Additional specialized training may be necessary depending on your experiment (e.g. laser training). Please contact the AFD ESH Coordinator for additional information upon arrival.
  3. See the Visitor Information Guide for a variety of information to help you make the most of your experience at Brookhaven.

Starting an Approved Experiment

  1. In order to use your scheduled beam-time, an Experimental Safety Review (ESR) must be completed. Submit the experimental details and hazards of your experiment to the AFD ESH Coordinator, who will populate the ESR form. The AFD ESH Coordinator will submit the finalized ESR form to the C-A Department for formal review and approval. The PI or local representative may be asked to give a presentation as part of the review process. The ESR process may take two months or more, so please start as early as possible. Installation at an AFD facility may not begin until the ESR is approved.
  2. Any newly approved experiment, or set-up modification for an existing experiment, must pass an internal AFD readiness review prior to requesting installation/beam time. The format of this review will depend upon experiment complexity. Contact the AFD User Coordinator to schedule this review.
  3. Prior to installation, the equipment must be approved for safety and vacuum compatibility by the AFD ESH Manager.

Read the Full Requirements

Beam Time Allocation

  1. Beam time is allocated according to the requirements of the experiment and the availability of beam time. To make a request, complete the shift request form (pdf) and submit via email to the AFD User Coordinator.
  2. Two days per month will be reserved for unscheduled Rapid Access, granted by special request to the AFD director. Such a request shall justify the urgency for AFD access outside of regular scheduling and should come directly from the principle investigator.
  3. AFD facilities provide beam time to users during working hours (9.30am - 6pm, with a 30 min lunch break) Tuesday through Friday and for 4 hours on Monday afternoon (2 pm - 6 pm). Monday morning is maintenance day and experimental hall access day, for service or installation of experiments. If an experiment requires time beyond these regular operation times, a duty operator must be identified and a proper shift change take place and recorded in the logbook.
  4. The accounting of actual time allocated to each experiment will be based on the records of the AFD operations logbook. AFD operators will keep a log of all unscheduled maintenance that may take place during the scheduled AFD operation and that time will not be considered as allocated experimental beam time.

NB: The lead on-site experimenter is expected to send a brief summary of work and next-day plans, by email, to AFD staff at the end of each shift. Upon completion of the run, the PI or lead on-site experimenter is also required to fill out a run completion report that can be found here.

Data Management at AFD

Users of AFD facilities are responsible for meeting their Data Management obligations to their home institutions and granting agencies. Other than the AFD control computer(s), the facility does not provide specific resources to manage the data that is generated through user experiments. Since the facility does not have a data archiving service or staff to manage the data, the user must generally copy data to their own storage systems. The AFD facility provides IT infrastructure such as networks and computers at the facility control room. General information about available computing services can be found here. The facilities also have IT staff available at the facility and through Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Information Technology (IT) organization to provide assistance regarding specific questions or issues related to computing or data management. Users should consult AFD staff when formulating data management plans and strategies. If you have questions, please contact the AFD User Coordinator, at igor@bnl.gov.

User Responsibilities

AFD staff provides expert support to user experiments by operating the linac, lasers, and other facility components, assisting with designing and installing the experiments, maintaining a computer control system with flexible user interface, and providing safety training and experiment reviews.

The responsibility of constructing and operating the specific experiment rests with the user. The use of electron beam diagnostics, optical diagnostics, computer systems, CAMAC crates etc. is provided at no cost.

It is the user's responsibility to install their experimental equipment in the beam line. Users must get the approval of the AFD User Coordinator to break into the beam line vacuum system.

Vacuum systems must be bled to pure nitrogen for such an operation. Prior to installation, the equipment must be approved for safety and vacuum compatibility by the  AFD ESH Coordinator.

Materials and specialty services, such as surveys, electricians, and vacuum, are available for a charge. To enable payment for such services, users are required to establish an account with BNL. Contact the AFD User/Guest Coordinator to establish an account.

For the duration of each experiment run, users must provide a short, daily progress report including plans for the following day, by email to the AFD User Coordinator and CO2/ebeam Operator.

Cable Policy

Many users and experiments share the resources of the Accelerator Test Facility. One of the most valuable resources is cable. Given the very large number of cables installed at the AFD, it is absolutely necessary that the cable policy be observed.

Read the Cable Policy