New Light Source Project Launch

Cockcroft Institute staff are playing a lead role in developing technologies that will enable a next generation light source in the UK.

On the 11th April at the Royal Society, the UK Government will launch a project (www.newlightsource.org) to investigate the case for a next generation light source (NLS). Such a source would produce pulses of light so short - just a few femtoseconds in length - that it could “make videos” of chemical reactions as they actually happen. Potential applications are almost limitless; from finding out how biomolecules cause life-threatening diseases, to helping develop new types of clean energy production, and for developing higher-capacity computer memory.

Cockcroft Institute staff are already addressing the technological challenges of a new light source; they have designed and are now commissioning a prototype particle accelerator called ALICE (Accelerators and Lasers In Combined Experiments) at STFC Daresbury Laboratory. The team draw on Daresbury’s long experience at the forefront of accelerator science, including nearly 30 years of success on the SRS and the design of the DIAMOND light source. ALICE is a testbed for key technologies needed for a next light source, including high brightness photoinjectors, superconducting RF acceleration, and electron bunch compression. Additionally, exploitation of the photons produced will contribute to understanding the scientific potential of a new light source.

Cockcroft Institute staff were also instrumental in the Fourth Generation Light Source (4GLS) technical design, the excellence of which was internationally recognised and will be a key resource for NLS.

The Cockcroft Institute will work with the NLS project team headed by Jon Marangos of Imperial College and the Photon Research Institute headed by Justin Wark of Oxford University as well as STFC Daresbury and Rutherford Laboratories and Diamond Light Source Ltd. to produce an accelerator design for this world-leading project.