The Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute has received a $13 million grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to expand its chip testing and discovery science programs.
The award, announced in May by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, will help fund a 6,000-square-foot facility addition aimed at enhancing the institute’s capacity for radiation hardness testing essential in developing resilient systems in harsh environments and supporting national security, space exploration and industry collaboration. The expansion will feature new experimental beam lines, testing areas and project spaces, along with a state-of-the-art spectrometer for cutting-edge research in nuclear science.
For more than 30 years, the Cyclotron Institute has provided high-energy heavy-ion particle testing unmatched in its ability to accurately simulate the damaging effects of radiation, which can impact space missions, satellites, airplanes and other phenomena that rely on everyday electronics. Radiation hardness testing is critical in determining how effectively devices can withstand radiation to avoid potential technological failure, often with catastrophic consequences for a host of impacted industries and global services.
Since 1967, the Cyclotron Institute has served as the core of Texas A&M’s nuclear science program and as a major technical and educational resource for the state, nation and world. The institute is home to two cyclotrons used to study nuclear interactions: a K150 cyclotron and a K500 superconducting cyclotron that ranks among the five highest-energy-producing cyclotrons in the world. Both powerful particle accelerators can speed up elemental particles and fuse atomic nuclei in high-energy particle beam experiments that enable scientists to study the particles and the forces that shape them to provide insight into how the world behaves at both macro and micro levels.
In the expansion’s first phase, the institute is upgrading its K150 cyclotron to create additional heavy ions and provide more beam time for the approximately 200 companies and agencies that visit the facility each year.