The High Energy Photon Source (HEPS), under construction since 2019, is located in the northern core area of Huairou Science City (HSC) and is one of HSC’s large scientific facilities. Once completed, HEPS will not only be the first high energy light source in China but also one of the brightest fourth-generation synchrotron radiation facilities in the world.

HEPS complex buildings resemble a magnifying glass, thus aptly symbolizing the role of HEPS as a powerful tool for characterizing the microstructure of matter. As one of the key projects listed in the 13th Five-year Plan for national major scientific and technological infrastructure construction, The HEPS project comprises accelerators, beamlines and utility facilities.

The storage ring of HEPS is 1360.4 m in circumference. Its electron energy will be 6 GeV and the light will be 1 trillion times the brightness of the sun. By using a 7-Bending Achromatic (7BA) lattice, the horizontal emittance of the electron beam will surpass 60 pm·rad, which is the main feature of the fourth-generation diffraction limited light source.

HEPS can accommodate more than 90 high-performance beamlines and stations. Phase I involves construction of 14 user beamlines and stations for researchers in the fields of engineering materials, energy and environmental research, health studies and pharmaceutical development, and catalysts in the petrochemical industry, among others. HEPS will provide high-energy, high-brilliance, high-coherence synchrotron light with energies up to 300 keV and more, with the capability for nm spatial resolution, ps time resolution, and meV energy resolution. HEPS will be an important platform for original and innovative research in the fields of basic science and engineering research.

Over the past four years, All the buildings had been turned over for installation. Installation and RF conditioning of the Linac, along with installation of the booster and the first two beamline hutches, were completed. Girder installation at the storage ring and beamlines installation were underway.

The HEPS first electron beam had been accelerated to 500 MeV with better than 2.5 nC of bunch charge by the Linac on March 14, 2023. Hope to see you in 2025.

Published in Sep. 2023