AEi Systems Designing Power System for World’s Largest Particle Accelerator

LOS ANGELES & GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AEi Systems, a world leader in power systems analysis and design, announced today that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (the European Centre for Nuclear Research) near Geneva, Switzerland, has engaged AEi Systems to design and develop a radiation-hard power supply for CERN’s giant ATLAS particle detector. The LHC will be the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator when it begins anticipated operations in 2008.

The contract was awarded by the United States Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, which heads the United States ATLAS collaboration. AEi Systems joined forces with Algen Design Services, a specialty electronics manufacturer, to win the design project.

The ATLAS experiment at the LHC will take place in a unit the size of a 7-story building and will cause protons to collide in and near the ATLAS particle detector at record energies of 7 TeV (7 trillion electronvolts) per proton.

The power supply for ATLAS is located close to the front-end crate of its liquid-argon calorimeters, and therefore the power supply will have to perform in one of the most challenging environments on Earth, facing high radiation (up to 100krad), single-event effects (hadrons with E>10MeV), and a large magnetic field (300Gauss). Radiation causes most commercial power supplies to short out in the 10-30krad range due to degradation of the internal semiconductor devices used in feedback loop and switching transistors. In addition, magnetic fields can cause the power supply’s magnetics to saturate.

Landmark Achievement in Power Supply Design

When CERN scientists needed a design for a 3kW DC-DC converter that could survive the high-radiation and magnetic field environment of ATLAS, AEi Systems’ extensive experience with space-grade radiation-hardened power electronics made it a top resource. What made this design assignment even more challenging than the already difficult-to-achieve operational specification requirements was that ATLAS scientists also wanted a lower-cost solution with a price-point closer to that of commercial units. This goal was set even though radiation-tolerant military and space power supplies traditionally use very expensive parts that have been specially designed and tested for their ability to survive in such environments.

Despite these challenges, AEi Systems, together with Algen, was able to provide a high-grade solution that uses less expensive “off-the-shelf” parts through application of unique design concepts and topologies along with careful component selection supported by radiation testing.

“We are very proud and excited that AEi Systems has been selected to design this very important power supply,” said Charles Hymowitz, Managing Director of AEi Systems. “AEi Systems’ record of space and satellite achievement is especially applicable when customers need products to operate reliably under such harsh radiation conditions. The development of this robust power supply using ‘off-the-shelf’ parts is a landmark achievement in power supply design.”

ATLAS is one of the largest collaborative efforts ever attempted in the physical sciences, with participation from 2,000 physicists from more than 167 universities and laboratories in 37 countries. Further information about the ATLAS Collaboration can be found at http://atlas.ch.

About AEi Systems

AEi Systems is a world leader in power systems analysis and design, SPICE modeling, worst case circuit analysis (WCCA), FMECA analysis, and reliability (MTBF) analysis. AEi Systems serves nearly every significant IC and aerospace manufacturer and many of their customers.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, AEi Systems’ customers include Raytheon (NYSE: RTN), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Aeroflex (Nasdaq: ARXX), National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM), International Rectifier (NYSE: IRF), Texas Instruments (NYSE: TI) and ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT). For more information on AEi Systems, please call 310-216-1144 or visit AEi Systems’ website at www.AENG.com.