A Multiphysics Simulation Tool for Vacuum System Design and Optimization for Next Generation Light Sources

Fourth generation storage ring light sources are creating orders-of-magnitude brighter x-rays by reducing horizontal emittance via multi-bend achromats. This requires the bending magnet pole tips to be closer to the electron beam axis, which in turn requires smaller vacuum chambers. The resultant design challenges are dictated by complex and coupled physical phenomena including high thermal stresses and photon stimulated desorption. To better analyze and optimize next-generation vacuum systems, the authors are developing and benchmarking a suite of COMSOL Multiphysics models, which include the production, propagation, reflection and absorption of synchrotron x-rays, as well as the resulting physical phenomena noted above. These coupled physics models are benchmarked against the open source codes SynRad and MolFlow. Finally, the models are embedded within an open source browser-based GUI, enabling scientists and engineers to execute simulations on a parallel cloud-based server.