EOF has three main departments — Engineering Services, Experimental Operations and Accelerator Facilities.

Engineering Services

The Engineering Services department provides project engineering, design engineering, and drafting services. The group is comprised of engineers and designers. We offer engineering and drafting for projects and support the design of accelerators, advanced nuclear reactor systems and components, high-energy physics detectors, and novel experimental equipment.

The group has a broad range of capabilities, from managing projects to designing detailed systems and components. In addition to the group’s conventional machine design capabilities, we have considerable expertise vacuum systems, cryogenic technology, manufacturing engineering, and instrumentation and control systems.

Experimental Operations

The Experimental Operations department partners with scientists to build, install, and operate the equipment needed to achieve their goals. We help improve safety, boost efficiency, and lower costs with our knowledge in laboratory operations and skills in fabricating, installing, and running experiments.

We design and install experiments and assemblies from scratch, as well as modify existing or ​“off the shelf” equipment to meet unique testing needs. We also provide troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance for scientists across the laboratory.

Accelerator Facilities

The Accelerator Facilities department operates the Low-Energy Accelerator Facility (LEAF), which consists of an electron linear accelerator and a Van de Graaff electron accelerator. The electron linear accelerator produces a wide range of radioisotopes for medical, national security, basic science, and industrial applications, and supports multiple programs on behalf of sponsors such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Nuclear Security Administration, the DOE Office of Science Isotope Program, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

The department also operates the Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscopy (IVEM) Tandem facility. Scientists use the facility for in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies of defect structures in materials under controlled ion irradiation and sample conditions. The facility is unique in its ability to image the changes in atomic structure and defect formation during irradiation at high magnification.

The division supports Argonne’s strong tradition of research and development excellence through a commitment to maintaining and advancing safe, state-of-the-art capabilities that enable research teams to focus on what they do best.