On January 11, the Dongguan Municipal Government Work Report released by the Dongguan Two Sessions in 2022 clearly pointed out that it is necessary to build Songshan Lake Science City into a core engine for high-quality development, accelerate the construction of the second phase of spallation neutron source, promote the construction of advanced atassecal laser facilities as soon as possible, and accelerate pre-research of advanced light source projects in the south; strengthen basic and applied basic research, and strengthen the source innovation of industrial technology... It can be seen that in Dongguan's focus on "scientific and technological innovation + advanced manufacturing" to promote high-quality development, the status of Songshan Lake Science City and large scientific devices has become more prominent.
Not long ago, the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center was rated as "Songshan Lake 20 Years Outstanding Contribution Enterprise and Institution". In the past ten years, the researchers of the center have dedicated themselves to casting China's first and the world's fourth pulsed spallation neutron source, which not only lights up the "source of innovation" in the Bay Area, but also drives more large scientific devices to settle in Songshan Lake, providing the most powerful support for the construction of a science city with global influence.
"The main responsibility of our spallation neutron source is to provide a key and advanced research platform for the country's high-level scientific and technological self-reliance." Looking forward to the future, Chen Hesheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and commander-in-chief of China's spallation neutron source project, said that the project construction management, scientific research and operation team cultivated by spallation neutron source can provide talent support for the construction of large scientific devices such as advanced light sources in the south in the future, which is a very valuable asset in Dongguan.
Three generations of "old, middle and young" coordinated research, ten years of "casting swords" once "hit"
At the foot of the majestic mountain and on the shore of Songshan Lake, there is the largest single scientific project in China so far - the source of Spallation Neutrons in China. This "national heavy weapon" jointly built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Guangdong Province makes China the fourth country in the world to have a pulsed spallation neutron source.
The structure of matter determines the properties of matter, and the spallation neutron source is like a "super microscope", which is an ideal probe for studying the microstructure of matter, which can help human beings unveil the mystery of the microscopic world. From settling in Dongguan in 2007, to passing the national acceptance and officially put into operation in 2018, and then to the acceleration of the second phase of the project, China's spallation neutron source has greatly improved the innovation level of Dongguan and even the Greater Bay Area in terms of source innovation.
However, spallation neutron sources are complex wholes composed of thousands of high-tech equipment, and in the construction, in addition to solving the problem of basic scientific principles, a large number of non-standard equipment need to be developed, which has the dual complexity of engineering and research. It can be said that behind the birth of this "super microscope", the painstaking efforts of the three generations of scientific research engineers in the spallation neutron source science center have been poured in, and at the same time, a strong team has been forged.
At the beginning of the construction, there were more than 100 scientific researchers in Beijing in the team, and for six or seven years, they all lived a "two-headed running" life in Beijing and Dongguan, of which more than 300 days were spent in Guanzhou every year. Whenever there is a critical period of construction, they need to work more than ten hours a day.
Later, as a large number of scientific researchers moved from Beijing to Dongguan, the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center established a temporary party organization to actively help researchers integrate into the local environment. At the end of 2014, the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center established a formal party organization.
At present, there are 223 party members in the spallation neutron source science center, and the team and its members have repeatedly won the honors of "National March 8th Red Flag Bearer", "National May 1st Pacesetter", "Guangdong Province May 1st Labor Award", "Chinese Youth May Fourth Medal Collective", "National Advanced Collective of Professional and Technical Talents" and so on.
After more than ten years of struggle by researchers, in August 2017, China's spallation neutron source successfully achieved the first beam of proton targeting to produce the first beam of neutrons. "Although our team is very young, we have good design, good equipment manufacturing, good installation experience, and the first time we press it, we get a neutron beam that is exactly what was expected." Chen Hesheng said so proudly.
Over the years, the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center has cultivated a young accelerator and neutron scattering research and application team, with an average age of more than 500 scientific research engineers aged 36, and more than 80% of the project project leaders are young people under the age of 40. According to the plan, the center plans to accelerate the cultivation of key scientific and technological talents within 5 years, including 150 scientific research backbones, 250 postdoctoral fellows, and introduce 50 international first-class scientists and academic leaders to provide a strong talent guarantee for the subsequent construction and development of spallation neutron sources.
Leading technology, serving more than 2600 users to complete more than 600 projects
Through the prefabrication research work of a series of key technologies, the spallation neutron source research team has overcome many technical problems, the development of many equipment has reached the advanced level at home and abroad, and the localization rate of equipment has reached more than 90%, which has significantly improved the technical level and independent innovation ability of China's related industries in the fields of high-power spallation targets, magnets, power supplies, detectors and electronics, and has achieved a major leap forward in the field of strong current proton accelerator and neutron scattering.
Through independent innovation and integrated innovation, today's spallation neutron sources have made a series of major technological achievements in the construction of accelerators, target stations, and spectrometers. Among them, the highest neutron efficiency of the target station is leading the world, and the comprehensive performance of the three neutron spectrometers has reached the international advanced level.
Focusing on the development needs of the "four aspects", up to now, spallation neutron sources have made a number of important achievements in the fields of new energy materials, aviation materials, combustible ice, shale, catalysts and other fields, with a total output of more than 600 scientific and technological papers and more than 80 national invention patents.
Spallation neutron source is running well, the degree of openness is high, the domestic user demand is urgent, now has more than 2600 registered users, completed from many universities, research institutes and enterprises around the world more than 600 projects, of which 12% from Unigroup Tongchuang, East Sunshine and other high-tech enterprises. According to statistics, in the third quarter of 2021, the number of user applications increased by 220% compared with the same period in 2020.
While promoting source innovation, the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center also actively promotes the transformation of key technological achievements. In August 2020, the team successfully developed China's first accelerator boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) experimental device with independent intellectual property rights, laying a technical foundation for the development of medical BNCT treatment devices in China. At present, the team is stepping up in-depth research with all parties to improve the performance of boron neutron targeted drugs, and at the same time accelerate the construction of BNCT clinical equipment in Dongguan People's Hospital.
As the first major scientific and technological infrastructure in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the successful construction of spallation neutron sources also provides an important opportunity to promote regional collaborative innovation.
On January 15, 2020, the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Neutron Scattering Science and Technology Joint Laboratory" jointly established by the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center, the City University of Hong Kong, the University of Macau and the Dongguan Institute of Technology was officially inaugurated, which is committed to building an important scientific research platform for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Science and Technology Innovation Center. In July 2021, the first cooperative spectrometer multiphysics spectrometer jointly built by Spallation Neutron Source, City University of Hong Kong and Dongguan Polytechnic Institute passed the acceptance test.
At present, China's spallation neutron source phase II project is stepping up, after the completion of the project, the power will be increased by 5 times, that is, the target power from 100 kilowatts to 500 kilowatts. At the same time, the second phase of the project will build 11 new user spectrometers and experimental terminals, so that the total number of spectrometers will reach about 20, greatly improving the experimental capacity of the equipment, from the time and space scale, will better meet the needs of users at home and abroad.
In the future, the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center will continue to take talent cultivation and technology overcoming as the overall goal, continue to cultivate teams with original innovation capabilities in the fields of basic science and high technology, and accelerate the development of key technologies in China's science and technology, industry and national defense. By 2030, the spallation neutron source will drive the research and applied science of Neutron scattering technology in China to enter the world's advanced ranks.
【Written by】 Wu Bitong, Zhang Shanshan
【Author】 Wu Bitong Zhang Shanshan
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client
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