Novel Accelerators

CI experts study a broad range of novel acceleration techniques including plasma wake fields, dielectrics, photonics and meta-materials.

Novel accelerators play an important part in CI research. Our experts are making key contributions to:

  • The AWAKE experiment at CERN (proton-driven wakefield acceleration).
  • The EuPRAXIA collaboration that develops a pan-European plasma accelerator with superior beam quality (electron and laser-driven).
  • Plasma acceleration R&D at  CLARA (electron-driven).
  • Experiments at the University of Strathclyde’s SCAPA facility (laser-driven).
  • Studies into ultra-compact dielectric and carbon nanotube structures that give access to extremely high accelerating gradients.
  • Developing THz-driven acceleration schemes by combining picosecond THz sources with dielectric and metallic structures targeting high-gradient acceleration of high-quality beams.

CI also explores the use of the Central Laser Facility (CLF) at Rutherford Appleton Lab and the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) in Eastern Europe for laser-driven experiments.