Advanced-Accelerator Concepts

Principal Investigator: Philippe Piot, Ph.D., Department of Physics.

This project investigates novel particle-accelerator concepts – including high-gradient particle acceleration, cold electron sources, and beam manipulation – that could support the realization of very compact particle accelerators with application ranging from Fundamental science, medicine and Industry.

The Gaea cluster supports the exploration of beam-driven particle acceleration techniques capable of achieving very high accelerating field in the GigaElectronVolt-per-meter range, i.e. two orders of magnitude higher than conventional accelerators. Gaea also enables the investigation of ultra-cold electron source capable of producing high-quality electron beams for free-electron-laser and ultra-fast electron diffraction applications. The cluster is also use to examine possible applications of electron beam to produce high-energy photon beams by colliding with intense laser pulses.

Our group make extensive use of software from the BerkleyLab Accelerator Simulation Toolkit (BLAST) and suite of software available from the Argonne Accelerator Physics group at the Advanced Photon Source. We also develop our own software when needed.

More info on our research can be found on the Advanced Accelerator R&D (AARD) website.

Prospective user?

Request an account.

Electromagnetic Field Produced by an Electron Beam in a Dielectric-Lined Waveguide.

Electromagnetic simulations performed with VORPAL and showing the axial electric field excited by an electron bunch propagating in a dielectric-lined rectangular waveguide.
Back to top