Center for Bright Beams

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award will fund the creation of the Center for Bright Beams (CBB). CBB's overarching research goal is to increase the intensity ("brightness") of beams of charged particles by two orders of magnitude while decreasing the cost of key accelerator technologies. CBB will promote significant advances in scientific disciplines ranging from physics to chemistry to biology by enhancing the capabilities of the accelerators essential to research in these fields. It will conduct collaborative research with national laboratories and companies, leveraging their diverse expertise, and will transfer technology to them. It will help integrate the research into instruments that advance the frontiers of knowledge in life sciences, materials science, condensed matter physics, particle physics, and nuclear physics. The CBB's industrial partners will incorporate their inventions into instruments for manufacturing integrated circuits, producing medical radioisotopes, and developing new pharmaceuticals. CBB will transfer their bright beam technology to market leaders in accelerator components, electron microscopy, photolithography, and wafer inspection. A multifaceted, integrated education program for students comprehensively addresses the needs of students and represents a value added by the STC. Opportunities for undergraduate students in summer research programs build on existing REU programs and will increase the number of total research positions available for summer research. CBB will prepare and expand the workforce to address the shortage of accelerator scientists. The three research themes have established supporting goals: Beam Production: Develop electron sources that increase beam brightness by two orders of magnitude. Beam Acceleration: Develop next-generation superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities that outperform today's cavities by a factor of ten in cryogenic efficiency and by a factor of two in accelerating field strength. Beam Transport and Storage: Develop a) beam transport systems that preserve beam brightness in electron microscopes and in linear accelerators and b) beam optics that increase equilibrium beam intensity in electron storage rings for light sources and for high energy physics.