UK director of the Felix partnership

加速器通常用于将粒子粉碎在一起或照射目标，有时这种照射的目的是产生其他类型的辐射，例如电磁辐射。使用加速器的另一个非常重要的原因是，任何电荷在受到加速时都会辐射，例如向心加速度，当它被迫在所谓的同步加速器中执行圆形路径时，如果粒子的速度接近光速，则辐射主要是向前方向的。粒子束可以产生非常明亮和准直的“类似激光”的同步加速器光束，在某些方面，这些光束比普通激光更有吸引力。例如，强度可以非常高，因为粒子束不会像由玻璃或晶体制成的激光那样被损坏或燃烧。光脉冲持续时间与粒子束脉冲有关，这可以很短。最后，光的波长是由粒子束能量和加速强度决定的，由于这些参数是可以广泛调节的，所以光的颜色也是可以调节的。在欧洲，科学家们可以参观十几个大型加速器光子源进行实验，包括英国的同步加速器，哈维尔的钻石光源。这些光源中有许多使用标准的圆形环，同步加速器光是由向心力产生的，但有些是线性的，或者有直线部分，即所谓的磁体线，使电子在通过的过程中摆动或波动，这些可以大大增强光输出。荷兰奈梅亨内梅亨大学的FELIX实验室就是这样的一个机构，它致力于提供强烈的、可调谐的短脉冲红外光。这个项目的愿景是为任何英国科学家提供免费和方便的访问FELIX实验室。FELIX是一个由三个自由电子激光器组成的套件；独特、灵活、超快的中红外和太赫兹光谱学光源。中红外/太赫兹光很重要，因为光子能量对应于许多有用的现象，如允许识别分子的“指纹”振动，或一些自旋翻转或对存储设备重要的磁跃迁，仅举几例。使用标准的英国大学实验室规模的设备，FELIX的一系列光特性是不可能同时获得的，而大规模的基础设施，这里的自由电子激光器（FEL），对于在现代技术可以实现的极端情况下进行突破性研究至关重要。FELIX提供了一种强大的手段来调查和操纵区域内的物质，否则就不可能绘制图表，以前所未有的时间精度将其驱动到无法获得的激发态，揭示新的功能。它在电磁波谱的一个区域内是连续可调谐的，不仅适合于驱动生物重要蛋白质的分子，簇和集体模式的特定激发，而且也适合于金属和半导体中的电子。设备共享和用户设施访问模式最大限度地扩大了英国社区的规模，提供各种优秀的波束线，最大限度地提高了其多样性。在这个项目中，我们的目标是更好地了解英国研究界的需求，并帮助他们获得这个世界领先的设施。与此同时，我们的目标是推动FELIX的发展，以满足英国社区未来的需求。

Accelerators are often used to smash particles together or irradiate targets, and sometimes the purpose of this irradiation is to generate other kinds of radiation such as electromagnetic radiation. The other very important reason to use an accelerator is that any charge radiates when subject to acceleration, such as the centripetal acceleration when it is forced to perform a circular path in what is called a synchrotron, and if the speed of the particle is close to the speed of light the radiation is dominantly in the forwards direction. Particle beams can produce very bright and well collimated "laser-like" synchrotron light beams, and in some ways these beams can be much more attractive than regular lasers. For example, the intensity can be extremely high, since the beam of particles can't be damaged or burnt in the way that lasers made from glasses or crystals can. The light pulse duration is related to the particle beam pulse, and this can be very short. Finally, the wavelength of the light is determined by the particle beam energy and the strength of the acceleration, and since these parameters are widely tunable, so is the colour of the light. There are a dozen or so large accelerator based photon sources in Europe that sceintists can visit for experiment, including the UK synchrotron, the Diamond Light Source at Harwell. Many of these sources use the standard circular ring and the synchrotron light is generated by the centripetal force, but some are linear or have straight sections with what is called a line of magnets that cause the electrons to wiggle or undulate on their way through, and these can greatly enhance the light output. One such facility is the FELIX laboratory at the Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, which is dedicated to providing intense, tunable and short pulsed infrared light. The vision of this project is to provide free and easy access for any UK scientist to the FELIX Laboratory. FELIX is a suite of three Free Electron Lasers; unique, flexible, ultrafast light source for mid-infrared and THz spectroscopy. Mid-IR/THz light is important because the photon energy corresponds to many useful phenomena such as the "fingerprint" vibrations that allow identification of molecules, or some spin-flip or magnetic transitions important for memory devices, to name a few. FELIX's set of light characteristics are impossible to obtain simultaneously using standard UK University lab scale equipment, and a large-scale infrastructure, here a free-electron laser (FEL), is crucial for ground-breaking research at the extremes of what is achievable with modern day technology. FELIX provides a powerful means for investigating and manipulating matter in territory that is otherwise impossible to chart, driving it to otherwise unobtainable excited states with unprecedented temporal precision, revealing new functionalities. It is continuously tuneable in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum uniquely suited for driving specific excitations of not only molecules, clusters and collective modes of biologically important proteins, but also electrons in metals and semiconductors. The equipment sharing and user facility access model maximises the size of the UK community, and the provision of a variety of excellent beamlines maximises its diversity. In this project we aim to understand better the needs of the UK research community, and help them to gain access to this world-leading facility. At the same time we aim to drive developments at FELIX that will meet the UK Community needs of the future.