Volotek SA, Geneva, Switzerland, has been selected by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) to deliver XHV vacuum gauge controllers to measure ultra and high vacuum levels in the LHC accelerator and the LEIR accumulator. Currently under construction, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a 27 km (17 miles) long ring scheduled to start operation in November 2007, when it will become the world's largest particle accelerator. The Low-Energy Ion Ring (LEIR) is an ion accumulator used for storing and cooling ions before injecting them to the LHC.
Volotek's new VGC1000 Vacuum Gauge Controller is extended to deliver the world highest precision measurements offering scalability, reliability and high stability in the extreme high vacuum (XHV) range of 10-16 bar.
In order to reach design performance, the LHC requires technologies pushed to the limits - farther than ever achieved before to allow scientists to penetrate still further into the structure of matter and recreate the conditions prevailing in the Universe just 10-12 seconds after the "Big Bang". The VGC1000 Vacuum Gauge Controller is the world's first to meet new dimensions in control and measurement of Extreme High Vacuum levels even beyond the needs for both LHC and LEIR.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is a world leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.
