INFN-LNF Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati
The installation of STAR (Southern Europe Thomson Backscattering Source for Applied Research), the compact hard X-rays source, designed and realized by INFN (Sezione di Milano and Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, with the collaboration of Gruppo Collegato di Cosenza), for advanced applied research in Materials Science, has started at the “Polo Tecnologico” of the University of Calabria.
This source is the core of the “PON MaTeRiA PONa3_00370” project, prepared jointly by the Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze Fisiche della Materia (CNISM) and the University of Calabria, and funded with 15.7 million Euro.
With its monochromatic and collimated beam of X-rays in the adjustable energy range 10-200 keV, STAR offers a complementary source with respect to synchrotron radiation facility, but at lower running costs.
The source has been designed to be easily upgraded, in terms of energy, polarization, photon flux and divergence of the beam. The possibility to host several dedicated beam lines will make of STAR a reference facility in the national and international panorama of X-rays sources applied to the vast community of Materials Science.
Alongside STAR, the commissioning of the µTOMO station for phase-contrast micro-tomography, carried out in collaboration with the Trieste Synchrotron SCpA, is in progress.
The MaTeRia project has also allowed the realization of five ancillary laboratories to support the facility.
“Nuova luce per il futuro in Calabria”, Riccardo Barberi, Rivista Doppia Corsia n° 38/2016