Commissioning of the PRIOR prototype

PRIOR (Proton Microscope for FAIR) is one of the three frameworks proposed by the HEDgeHOB collaboration for the future experiments at FAIR. This worldwide unique high-energy proton microscopy (HEPM) facility will be integrated into the HEDgeHOB SIS-100 beam line and employ high-energy (3 − 10 GeV), high-intensity (2.5 · 10 ppp) proton beams for fascinating multidisciplinary research such as experiments on fundamental properties of materials in extreme dynamic environments generated by external drivers (pulsed power generators, highenergy lasers, gas guns or explosive-driven generators) prominent for materials research and high energy density physics as well as the PaNTERA ( Proton Therapy and Radiography) experiment, with a great relevance to biophysics and medicine. Recently, as a result of the international effort of a team of scientists from GSI, LANL, ITEP and TUD a PRIOR prototype has been designed, constructed and commissioned at the HHT area of GSI (Fig. 1 (left)). The PRIOR prototype employs high-gradient NdFeB permanent magnet quadrupole (PMQ) lenses developed by ITEP and provides a magnification of ≈ 4 − 5 with a field of view of ≈15 mm.