Advanced Accelerating Structures Based on Metamaterials

该奖项将资助与开发基于奇异新材料的新型先进粒子加速器有关的关键问题的理论和实验工作：光子物质的超材料。超材料是一种人造材料，通常由传统的微观材料组装而成。在这里，光子物质是光子相互作用的一种新的物质状态，通常是通过与普通原子的相互作用来实现的。该奖项中的光子物质超材料将用于推进粒子加速器的技术。通过利用高频电磁波在超材料中的极不寻常的传播特性，该奖项将开发束流驱动(双束)和波驱动的加速器，利用高度非正统的传播几何结构，最终将导致开发能够克服高梯度加速最严峻挑战的高频开关矩阵加速器：加速结构的崩溃这项研究汇集了两个科学领域：电磁学/超材料和加速器。研究生将参与这个项目的所有阶段。计划对德克萨斯州的高中生、本科生和研究生进行重大的外展工作。来自当地学校的高中生将在国际学生联合会的实验室进行暑期研究，与研究生合作，并接受最近在圣安东尼奥/奥斯汀地区少数族裔学生中建立的导师网络的指导，旨在提高少数族裔学生对纳米科学的兴趣和认识。导师网络是通过美国国家科学基金会纳米技术跨学科研究团队(NIRT)对德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校/德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的资助而建立的。其中一名被资助的研究生将有机会在阿贡国家实验室和SLAC国家加速器实验室的高级加速器实验测试设施(FEET)设施中花费相当长的时间来测试这些使用短的超相对论光束的新型加速结构。这项工作的智力重点是设计、制造和实验测试能够支持能够与超相对论电子束强烈相互作用的发光电磁波的加速结构。该奖项还将用于研究利用最近发明的基于超材料的光子拓扑绝缘体(PTI)作为新型加速结构的可能性。所有加速结构将在Argonne国家实验室和SLAC的设施中进行测试，特别强调高加速梯度下的结构击穿和短波长操作所需的技术。

This award will fund theoretical and experimental efforts on critical issues related to developing a new class of advanced particle accelerators based on exotic new materials: metamaterials of photonic matter. Metamaterials are artificial materials usually assembled from conventional microscopic materials. Photonic matter in this context is a new state of matter in which photons interact with each other, usually through mutual interactions with ordinary atoms. The metamaterials of photonic matter in this award will be used to advance techniques in particle accelerators. By taking advantage of highly unusual propagation properties of high-frequency electromagnetic waves in metamaterials, this award will develop both beam-driven (two-beam) and wave-driven accelerators utilizing highly unorthodox propagation geometries that will ultimately lead to developing high frequency switched matrix accelerators capable of overcoming the most severe challenge to high gradient acceleration: the breakdown of the accelerating structuresThis research brings together two areas of science: electromagnetics/metamaterials and accelerators. Graduate students will be involved in all stages of this project. Significant outreach effort to high school, undergraduate, and graduate Hispanic students in Texas is planned. High school students from local schools will conduct summer research in the PI's laboratories, collaborate with graduate students, and receive mentorship from the recently established Mentorship Networks among minority students in the San Antonio/Austin area aimed at enhancing the interest and awareness of nanoscale science among minority students. The Mentorship Network has been established through the NSF's Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) grant to UT-San Antonio/UT-Austin. One of the supported graduate students will have the opportunity to spend considerable time at Argonne National Laboratory and at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET) facility testing these novel accelerating structures using short ultra-relativistic beams.The intellectual focus of this work is the design, fabrication, and experimentally testing accelerating structures that support luminous electromagnetic waves capable of strongly interacting with ultra-relativistic electron beams. The award will also be used to investigate the possibility of utilizing the recently invented Photonic Topological Insulators (PTIs) based on metamaterials as novel accelerating structures. All accelerating structures will be tested at facilities at Argonne National Laboratory and at SLAC, with particular emphasis on structural breakdown at high accelerating gradients and on techniques needed for short wavelength operation.