Phase I Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) Synchrotron Light Source at Cornell University

在过去的几十年里，粒子加速器为我们对宇宙本质的理解做出了巨大贡献。此外，它们在世界范围内的研究项目中的应用对许多科学产生了重大影响。粒子加速器的社会效益在材料科学、核医学、分子生物学和许多其他领域尤为明显。带电粒子或它们产生的辐射使医生能够治疗多种癌症；正在经历显著增长的应用程序。加速器现在是半导体和制药行业的主要存在。从每月出现在《今日物理》和《欧洲核子研究中心信使》等期刊上的广告数量可以看出，加速器物理和相关技术方面的人才缺乏。国家需要在上述领域取得进展，这就需要培养下一代加速器物理学家，以便在前沿领域开展加速器研发。其中一个这样的前沿项目是基于对使用超导电子直线加速器作为同步加速器辐射源的能量回收的兴趣。这种能量回收直线机（ERLs）将开辟x射线科学的新领域，因为它们能够产生超明亮的x射线光束，保持适合微x射线光束的非常小的源尺寸，并产生非常强烈的快速x射线脉冲。这些特性中的每一个都允许进行现有同步加速器源无法进行的实验。在实现全尺寸ERL的潜力之前，必须令人满意地解决许多技术问题，包括产生高平均电流、高亮度电子束；将这些光束加速到合适的能量，而不会造成不可接受的发射度衰减；超导直线加速器在非常高梯度下的稳定高效运行等。康奈尔大学建议通过构建ERL原型来解决这些问题。目的是利用从原型中学习到的信息，提出构建一个全尺寸ERL光源的建议。这个跨学科提案的目的是构建原型的第一阶段。

Over the past several decades, particle accelerators have contributed greatly to our understanding of the nature of the universe. Further, their use in research programs world-wide has had a major impact on many sciences. The societal benefits of particle accelerators are especially evident in material science, nuclear medicine, molecular biology and in many other fields. Charged particles or the radiation they produce enable doctors to treat many forms of cancer; an application that is experiencing significant growth. Accelerators are now a major presence in the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. As can be seen from the number of advertisements that appear monthly in such Journals as Physics Today and the CERN Courier, there is a dearth of personnel trained in accelerator physics and related technology. The nation's need for advances in the areas mentioned above requires the training of next-generation accelerator physicists, to carry out accelerator R & D on the cutting-edge.One such cutting edge project is based on the interest in using superconducting electron linacs with energy recovery as synchrotron radiation sources. Such energy recovery linacs (ERLs) would open new regimes of X-ray science because they are capable of producing ultra-brilliant X-ray beams, maintaining a very small source size suitable for micro X-ray beams, and making very intense fast X-ray pulses. Each of these characteristics would permit the execution of experiments that are not feasible with existing synchrotron sources. Many technical issues must be satisfactorily resolved before the potential of a full-scale ERL can be realised, including the generation of high average current, high-brightness electron beams; acceleration of these beams to suitable energies without unacceptable emittance degradation; stable and efficient operation of superconducting linear accelerators at very high gradients etc. Cornell University has proposed to resolve these issues by the construction of a prototype ERL. The intention is to then utilize the information that is learned from the prototype to propose the construction of a full-scale ERL light source. The purpose of this interdisciplinary proposal is to construct the first phase of that prototype.