Particle Accelerators and Beams Conference 2026

30 Jun 2026, 09:30 → 1 Jul 2026, 19:30 Europe/London

Andy Smith (University of Manchester), Aras Amini, Daniel Seal, Daniel Turner (Cockcroft institute/Lancaster university), David Kelliher (STFC), Hayley Cavanagh (STFC - RAL - ISIS), Kay Dewhurst (University of Manchester), Morgan Hibberd (The University of Manchester), Nick Bazin, Stephen Gibson (Royal Holloway, University of London), Steven Jamison (Lancaster University)

The IOP Particle Accelerators and Beams group invite the community to our two-day Annual Conference, the UK’s premier national event in the field of particle accelerators! The scientific programme will feature plenary and keynote talks, a panel discussion, parallel sessions and a poster session. The conference is intended to bring the entire community together for two days of vibrant physics discussion, knowledge sharing and networking. We encourage participants at all career stages, from PhD, through postdocs, to senior professors and industry partners to attend. 

This year, we welcome you to Lancaster University for an in-person conference on 30 June and 1 July 2026.

 This promises to be a very special event, and we hope that you will join us for this exciting UK conference!

We strongly encourage colleagues to submit an abstract for a poster or oral presentation.

Many thanks to our sponsors for making this conference possible.

Deadline for registration and selecting conference dinner options is Friday 12th June.

 

PAB 2026 Poster.pdf

PAB 2026 Sponsorship Opportunities.pdf

Tuesday 30 June

10:00 Registration & Coffee

1 Conference Welcome

Speaker: Andy Smith (University of Manchester)

2 Welcome to Lancaster

Speaker: Steven Jamison (Lancaster University)

Invited Talk: Session 1: Advanced Acceleration Concepts

3 Terahertz techniques for advanced accelerators

Terahertz (THz)-frequency particle acceleration provides a natural “bridge” between conventional electronic-based (radio-frequency RF) and novel photonic-based (laser plasma wakefields LWFA) drivers, offering stable, high-frequency, high-gradient fields for compact interactions, coupled with direct femtosecond-scale synchronization to the THz drive laser. These unique properties ideally position THz technologies to enhance the capabilities of existing RF infrastructure, while also solving key challenges to help drive the transition towards compact high-gradient laser-based accelerator applications.

As a key example, I will present our latest experimental results and simulations demonstrating efficient THz-driven chirping and energy modulation of relativistic electron bunches, enabling the compression of ultrashort bunches and picosecond-spaced bunch trains with femtosecond-scale "temporal-locking" to the THz drive laser. These results unlock a potential array of advanced electron-laser applications requiring precise synchronization at the shortest timescales, such as pump-probe experiments with FEL light, single-shot ultrafast electron diffraction, electron-laser collisions to probe strong-field quantum electrodynamics and for high-quality LWFA through controlled external injection. On the latter I will discuss our work towards achieving this goal, in addition to highlighting the other unique roles THz technologies can play in the future advanced accelerator landscape.

Speaker: Dr Morgan Hibberd (The University of Manchester)

Contributed talks: Session I : Advanced Acceleration Concepts

4 Beam-driven plasma acceleration for HALHF@CLARA

Plasma-wakefield acceleration offers a promising alternative to radio-frequency technology for future accelerators due to the very high accelerating gradients (>GV/m) it can sustain. However, key challenges remain before meaningful application can begin, for example the staging of multiple plasma modules (to achieve very high beam energy) and achieving MHz-GHz repetition rates (to achieve very high luminosity). The CLARA facility (commissioned to full energy in 2025) provides the first domestic testbed for beam-driven plasma acceleration, such as that required for the Hybrid Asymmetric Linear Higgs Factory (HALHF). A collaboration between the universities of Oxford, Oslo, and Manchester, with scientists from ASTeC and DESY, aims to use CLARA to advance the state-of-the-art towards that required for HALHF, with the long-term goal of demonstrating two-stage acceleration at high repetition rate and high average power. This submission will present results from an initial five-week experimental campaign at CLARA, which took place towards the beginning of 2026 as part of their friendly user run. During this first campaign plasma-accelerator infrastructure was installed at CLARA and used to generate beam-driven wakefields with GV/m fields (a first for CLARA as well as the UK) and to generate >100 T/m focussing fields in an active-plasma-lensing mode. Prospects for future experimental periods at the facility will also be discussed.

Speaker: Ms Meg Savage (University of Oxford)

5 Development of a compact terahertz-driven transverse streaker for femtosecond electron beam diagnostics

Understanding femtosecond longitudinal electron bunch properties including the temporal profile and slice parameters, together with the synchronisation to an external laser system is of key importance for accelerators operating with ultrashort bunches, such as UED machines, FELs, LWFAs. A well-established route to measuring these properties is to use radio-frequency transverse-deflecting cavities (TDCs) coupled with a dipole spectrometer. These metre-scale components, however, necessitate powerful and costly klystrons, and relative-to-laser temporal diagnostics are hindered by uncorrelated RF-laser timing jitter. To overcome these challenges, higher-frequency transverse-deflecting structures, driven by laser-generated THz radiation have emerged as a promising alternative. Current demonstrations, however, have been limited to proof-of-principle laboratory experiments, operating at electron energies of 4.5 MeV and below, and typically using femtocoulomb-scale charges.
Here, we present work on the design of a commercial prototype THz-driven transverse streaking device. Our compact prototype encompasses the full THz-streaking system, including a vacuum chamber housing a 10 cm long dielectric-lined waveguide (DLW) interaction structure with integrated coupler, precision vacuum alignment system, THz generation crystal, and laser transport components. Our standalone THz streaker requires minimal beamline space and is designed to operate using a commercially available 10 mJ laser amplifier, making it widely accessible for typical accelerator facilities.
We report on the optimisation of DLWs for efficient transverse streaking, using simulations of the internal EM fields and electron propagation. We show how the dispersion curve of the structure can be engineered through optimising the cross-sectional geometry, leading to prolonged interaction lengths with minimised sensitivity to fabrication tolerances. We also investigate the field uniformity, tuneability, and operating frequency of the structure. Simulations of our device predict that a temporal resolution of 34 fs using a 100 MeV, 1 mm-mrad emittance beam will be achieved, placing it in the regime of RF-driven TDCs, using an innately laser-synchronised measurement.

Speaker: Joseph Bradbury (Lancaster University)

6 Electro-optic Spectral Interferometry Bunch Profile Monitor: Design and Implementation

With improvements in RF technology, as well as potential novel THz or plasma-based acceleration mechanisms, particle bunches have the potential to be compressed down to the 10 fs scale and below. To complement these advances and allow exploitation of these ultrashort beams, more precise longitudinal beam diagnostics are required.

Well-established electro-optic (EO) techniques offer non-destructive direct measurements of the longitudinal bunch profile and arrival time jitter. Until recently, however, EO methods suffered from a compromise between the power of the laser and the temporal resolution obtainable. Techniques such as temporally resolved detection or spectral upconversion require high power lasers due to second harmonic generation and/or frequency-resolved optical gratings (FROGs) necessary to the setup, whereas spectral encoding can use a far lower power laser but the time resolution is restricted by the window of time being observed.

We build on previously presented work showing EO Spectral Interferometry (EOSI) as a “plug and play” longitudinal profile monitor. This technique uses a common path Mach-Zender interferometer to extract extra information from the induced optical spectrum to reconstruct the Coulomb field of the electron bunch at the desired precision over an arbitrarily long observation window. This shifts the limit of the resolution from the time window to the range of optical frequencies present in the laser pulse, extending EO techniques towards the 10 fs regime.

We show results from EOSI experiments at the CLEAR linear accelerator at CERN, which is able to produce 200 MeV electron bunches down to 200 fs. This demonstration is extended to a profile monitor design for use on the AWAKE experiment at CERN, while also laying the groundwork to explore novel concepts and materials to push the limits of EO techniques further towards the 10 fs regime and below.

Speaker: Samuel Norman (University of Manchester)

7 Developments Towards a Novel Moment Based Particle-In-Cell Code

We introduce a novel scheme for the simulation of plasmas and accelerator beams: the moment-based particle-in-cell (PIC) code. This scheme is similar to a standard PIC code, with the key distinction being that the simulation objects have a dynamic shape. These simulation objects, called super-macroparticles (SMPs), are assigned a phase-space distribution at runtime, the dynamics of which are partially encoded in the moments of that distribution. We discuss methods for updating these moments at each timestep, as well as a procedure for depositing SMPs onto the computational grid. Finally, we present the remaining challenges that must be addressed before a complete implementation can be realized and outline possible applications for the moment-based PIC code.

Speaker: Finlay Gunneberg (Lancaster University)

12:35 Lunch 🥗

Contributed talks: Session II : Particle Physics Facilities

8 Strategy and Community in UK Accelerator Science: An ECFA and PPAP Update

This contribution will provide a community update on recent ECFA and PPAP activity relevant to UK accelerator science. Drawing on involvement in UK and European community processes, the talk will summarise the current strategic landscape, including the status of the European Strategy update process, UK engagement with CERN, and practical opportunities for the accelerator community.

The presentation will introduce PPAP and summarise recent activity, including its role in connecting the particle physics, particle astrophysics, and accelerator communities with STFC advisory structures. It will also provide a high-level summary of the recent PPAN funding uncertainty.

The aim is to provide a clear and accessible overview for colleagues across accelerator science, from early-career researchers to senior community members, and to encourage informed discussion at one of the UK accelerator community’s main annual gatherings.

Speaker: Haroon Rafique (STFC)

9 Design of the Compton Polarimeter for the FCCee

The Future Circular Electron-Positron Collider (FCCee) requires calibration of the collision energy to within an error of a few 10 keV. This high precision can be reached via Resonant Depolarisation (RDP), which requires a precise and consistent measurement of the polarisation of pilot bunches in the collider ring. The design of an inverse Compton polarimeter is presented, along with the results of extensive simulations performed with BDSIM, a Monte Carlo-based particle tracking tool designed for accelerator and beamline modelling. Outputs of the simulations have been put through a digitisation algorithm to replicate the output of the real silicon sensor. The model has been used to predict the precision of the polarisation measurement, to determine whether it is feasible to reach the requirements of the physics aims of the project.

Speaker: Jasper Burvill (The University of Manchester (GB))

10 Luminosity monitoring using Bhabha electrons in SuperKEKB and FCC-ee

Bhabha scattered electrons are used to measure relative luminosity away from the IP. At SuperKEKB, this has been demonstrated using CVD diamond detectors at 4m from the IP. LGADs (Low Gain Avalanche Diode) have recently been tested as a potential alternative with the Lumibelle2 collaboration. This sensor has a much faster rise time, on the order of a nanosecond, but may be more susceptible to aging effects.
Future studies will focus on LGAD durability and performance over time and the annealing process which may restore performance. The studies done on the LGAD can verify suitability of this detector in the FCC for fast luminosity measurements as well as benchmark studies against SuperKEKB for finding optimal positions for installation along the beam pipe.

Speaker: Pablo Mooney (The University of Manchester (GB))

11 Third Harmonic Cavities for Electron Cooling in the Electron Ion Collider

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) is a high-current, high luminosity (10^34 cm^2 s^(-1)) machine designed to reveal the internal spin structure of the proton by colliding beams of electrons and heavy ions such as lead and uranium. Frequent small angle Coulomb scattering, known as intra-beam scattering of the ion beam causes emittance growth, degrading luminosity. Coherent electron cooling is considered as a future EIC upgrade to counteract ion beam emittance growth, reducing vertical emittance from 2.5 μm to 0.3 μm in 2 hours. In this system, a cool, dense electron beam co-propagates with a “hot” ion beam enabling energy transfer from ions to electrons.
This electron beam would be accelerated through SRF 591 MHz cavities, before it is decelerated and its energy recovered by the cavities. Each electron bunch is 4-5cm long, occupying a significant fraction of the RF wavelength and so it experiences a non-linear accelerating voltage introducing curvature of the bunch longitudinal phase space. A third harmonic cavity is proposed to compensate for this non-linearity.

This work presents the use of machine learning for the RF optimisation of a third harmonic cavity with respect to maximum electric and magnetic surface fields imposed on superconducting cavities. Damping of high impedance dipole modes is critical for ERLs, as insufficiently damped modes may trigger regenerative beam-breakup instabilities, lowering the breakup threshold current and consequently compromising energy recovery. We investigate very large aperture radii (≥30 mm) geometries to ensure dipole HOMs lie above cut-off. We find that for all candidate geometries the first dipole passband remains trapped, requiring investigation and subsequent optimisation of both end-cell geometry and an enlarged bottleneck cavity-beampipe transition to improve dipole propagation. Remaining high impedance dipoles are damped by use of waveguides, of which several configurations are investigated.

Speaker: Sara Toole (Lancaster University)

12 The Ghost Collider

The Ghost Collider (GC) is an innovative proposal for a 550 GeV centre-of-mass (275 GeV per beam) linear collider with four interaction regions arranged in series, each with the design luminosity. The primary innovation is the use of “ghost bunches” containing equal numbers of electrons and positrons, thereby net electrically neutral. In the linacs, energy is transferred between electrons and positrons within the same bunch, decelerating one type of particle and using its energy to accelerate the other: GC thus comprises a new class of Energy Recovery Linac. At the interaction points, collisions occur between two neutral ghost bunches thereby mitigating beam-beam disruption, ensuring all particles and their energy can be recycled with minimal loss.

GC however requires large turn-around arcs at either end, therefore we also introduce an alternative topology, a fully Linear Ghost Collider (LGC). This enables a large reduction in power lost to synchrotron radiation, and in bunch degradation, in comparison to GC. Two variants of LGC are presented: a pulsed version realisable with proven superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) technology with instantaneous luminosity 35 × 10^34 cm−2 s−1 @ 100 MW electrical power; and a continuous-wave (CW) version based on expected parameters for thin-film Nb3Sn-on-copper SRF technology, capable of 348 × 10^34 cm−2 s−1 @ 160 MW electrical power.

These are, respectively, one and two orders of magnitude higher luminosity than the established Linear Collider Facility @ CERN proposal (LCF), with significantly reduced power consumption. We therefore discuss LGC as a luminosity upgrade of LCF, and compare to alternative proposed Higgs Factories.

Speaker: Peter Williams

15:10 Coffee 🍵

13 IOP PAB Group Prize talk:

Speaker: Deepa Angal-Kalinin

Poster session

Transfer to Conference Dinner: (Lancaster Town Hall)

Conference Dinner & Prizes

Wednesday 1 July

Invited Talk: Session 3: UK Facilities

14 CLARA Commissioning and First Friendly User Experiments

CLARA at Daresbury Laboratory is a medium energy (250 MeV) electron beam facility, delivering high-brightness electron bunches to a wide range of user experiments exploring novel acceleration schemes, cancer therapy, and advanced diagnostics. CLARA is currently undergoing final beam commissioning after an extended period of technical systems commissioning in 2025. During this period, CLARA achieved many significant milestones, including first beam from a new caesium telluride (Cs$_2$Te) photocathode; detailed emittance and bunch length measurements; and beam delivery to the Full Energy Beam Exploitation (FEBE) user area. In addition, the facility hosted an initial round of “friendly” user experiments, which were selected to cover a broad range of science themes while exploiting the full capabilities of the CLARA accelerator. These first experiments required high-quality electron beams with up to 250 pC per bunch, repetition rates up to 100 Hz, and various longitudinal compression schemes. In this talk, we review milestones from CLARA commissioning, using detailed beam measurements to demonstrate the accelerator’s current performance. We describe beam delivery to each of the first user experiments, and outline preparations for even more challenging experiments that are planned for later in 2026.

Speaker: Mark Johnson (STFC Daresbury Laboratory)

Invited Talk: Session 3: UK Facilities

15 Machine Intensity Limitations at ISIS and its Recovery Following the Long Shutdown

The ISIS facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is a pulsed neutron and muon source, for materials and life science research. Up to 3e13 protons per pulse can be accelerated to 800 MeV in the 50 Hz rapid cycling synchrotron which provides beam to two spallation neutron targets.

This talk will discuss the challenges faced in restoring beam performance after the long shutdown in 2021.

Speaker: Mrs Hayley Cavanagh (STFC - RAL - ISIS)

10:30 Coffee 🍵

Invited Talk: Session 4: Medical and industry applications

16 The UK Proton Beam Therapy programme and supporting research

Modern cancer treatment is largely a combination of 4 techniques: surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) is a more targeted version to conventional radiotherapy, where protons in the 60-250 MeV energy range are used to maximise the destructive radiation dose to cancerous tumours whilst minimising the damage to healthy tissue. The advantage of PBT is that dose can be delivered more precisely than conventional radiotherapy due to the way protons lose energy: as a result of the Bragg Peak, most of the energy is deposited in the last few millimetres of the proton path. This has particular significance in the treatment of deep-lying tumours in the head, neck and central nervous system, particularly for children whose bodies are still developing and are particularly susceptible to long-term radiation damage.

In 2018, the NHS opened the first of two high energy PBT centres at The Christie in Manchester to complement the ocular facility at Clatterbridge that has been treating with protons since 1989; this was followed in 2021 by UCLH. The current status of the three clinical facilities will be presented, as well as the ongoing clinical trials to support improvements in patient outcomes and potential expansion of the current indications list. In addition, there will be an overview of some of the research and development in particle therapy accelerator technology.

Speaker: Simon Jolly

Contributed talks: Session 4: Medical and industry applications

17 First VHEE-FLASH dosimetry and radiobiology studies at CLARA

With cancer rates increasing, the need for effective treatments is urgent. Very High Energy Electron (VHEE) and FLASH therapies could revolutionise cancer treatment, offering effective cancer cell killing while reducing induced side effects and reducing treatment delivery time. CLARA beamline upgrades make VHEE beam production at conventional (CONV) and ultra-high dose rates (UHDR) possible for the first time in the UK. Here, we present first findings from CLARA-VHEE studies, including beam parameterisation, dosimetry and cancer cell irradiation.
The first campaign focused on beam parameterisation, establishing the dose rates achievable with CLARA to validate its FLASH capabilities. This was achieved through irradiating a patient-equivalent water phantom containing EBT4 radiochromic film. The dose and resulting dose rate of the beam phantom was determined and percentage-depth dose curves obtained based on the transverse beam path. Lateral beam spread was analysed to determine scattering within the phantom. Irradiations were repeated for 100-250 MeV electron beams, with bunch charge and frequency varied to deliver CONV and UHDR beams. CONV dose rates were measured at 3.6±0.02 Gy/s and UHDR at 94.4±1.2 Gy/s – comfortably exceeding the generally-accepted FLASH threshold.
Lung adenocarcinoma cells were irradiated to determine cellular response to CONV and FLASH VHEE irradiation. Samples were irradiated across 0-8 Gy at 250 MeV, with cell survival and DNA damage quantified. Cellular response to CONV VHEE irradiation at 250 MeV was comparable with 154 MeV VHEE results (ARES, DESY). Preliminary data indicates that A549 survival rate decreases more rapidly following VHEE-FLASH, indicating a potential improvement in cell-killing capabilities for VHEE-FLASH irradiation.
First irradiation studies have shown the capability of CLARA to produce VHEE-FLASH beams, with cell irradiations at these energies and dose rates being a UK first. Improvements in laboratory infrastructure at CLARA will allow for more ambitious biological experiments, paving the way for potential clinical implementation.

Speaker: Kristina Small (University of Manchester)

18 Very High Energy Electron FLASH Radiotherapy: Accelerator Development and Emerging Experimental Evidence

Here we present a conspectus of very high energy electron (VHEE) developments and the potential for FLASH radiotherapy across multiple accelerator facilities. FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) delivers radiation at ultra-high dose rates (>40 Gy/s) and has demonstrated the potential to reduce normal tissue toxicity while maintaining tumour control compared with conventional dose-rate irradiation. Very high energy electrons (VHEEs; 50–250 MeV) are a promising modality for FLASH delivery due to their deep penetration, reduced lateral scattering, and compatibility with advanced accelerator technologies.

This work reviews progress in VHEE FLASH radiotherapy, encompassing beam development, dosimetry, and emerging experimental evidence from several high-energy electron platforms. A central focus is the characterisation of beam parameters and dose rates required for FLASH-compatible delivery, alongside early investigations of radiobiological response under ultra-high dose rate conditions.

Selected recent measurements illustrate current capabilities. Beam characterisation in water phantoms has been used to derive percentage depth-dose (PDD) profiles and transverse beam spread over electron energies of 100–250 MeV. By adjusting bunch charge and repetition frequency, both conventional (CONV) and ultra-high dose rate (UHDR) regimes have been achieved, with UHDR conditions exceeding the FLASH threshold (>40 Gy/s).

Complementary radiobiological studies using lung adenocarcinoma cells have assessed survival and DNA damage following CONV and FLASH VHEE irradiation. Initial results show dose-dependent reductions in survival, with differences between dose-rate regimes indicating potential alterations in biological response at ultra-high dose rates.

Overall, there is a growing capability across multiple VHEE platforms to support FLASH radiotherapy research, integrating accelerator physics, beam delivery optimisation, and radiobiological investigation. Continued development of VHEE facilities will be essential to refine delivery strategies and support translation toward potential clinical applications of VHEE-FLASH radiotherapy.

Speaker: Prof. Roger Jones

19 LhARA, a proposed Ion Therapy Research Facility

LhARA is a multidisciplinary collaboration that aims to use laser-driven ions in a hybrid acceleration scheme with an FFA both to deliver a systematic radiation biology programme and to lay the technological foundations for the transformation of proton and ion beam therapy. The UKRI Infrastructure Fund ‘Ion Therapy Research Facility’ Preliminary Activity supported the preparation of a Conceptual Design Report which has recently been published. This CDR describes the design and integration of a self-contained radiobiology facility. A proof-of-principle radiobiology beamline (PoPLAR) has been constructed at Strathclyde University that will carry out experiments of the effect of ultra-high dose rate laser-driven ions on biological samples. This presentation will describe the progress made on the overall design of LhARA in the last year, including the source ion production, the Gabor and PM magnet capture system, and the FFA used to reach Stage 2 energies.

Speaker: Hywel Owen (STFC Daresbury Laboratory)

20 Applications of energetic ion beams at Surrey Ion Beam Centre

Ion beams with energy up to a few MeV have been widely produced and used at Surrey Ion Beam Centre for various applications. Now we have five tools available for ion beam modification of materials, and one more new tool is under development for ion beam deposition. Examples of applications are: the manipulation of electrical conductivity; the investigation of irradiation induced stress and damage and the synthesis and smart cut of novel thin films etc. The materials involved covers insulating ceramics, structural metals, high temperature superconductors, solid state electrodes for batteries and biomaterials etc.
We also have a dedicated 2MV Tandem accelerator for ion beam analysis of solid state materials. With this tool, we have six beam lines designed for specific functions covering micro-beam, ToF-ERDA, ToF-SIMS, broad beam, external beam and high energy resolution PIXE. Combining all these analytical capability together, we are capable to do chemical analysis from hydrogen to heavy elements and molecules with spatial and depth distribution information.

Speaker: Dr Nianhua Peng (Surrey Ion Beam Centre)

12:40 Lunch

Invited Talk: Session 5: Industry and technology development

21 Industry-academia collaboration on linac R&D for security applications

Abstract to follow

Speaker: David Sharpe (RapidScan)

Contributed talks: Session 5: Industry and technology development

22 Results from the HEPTO Combined Function Permanent Magnet

The Hybrid Electromagnet-Permanent Magnet Tuneable Optics (HEPTO) magnet has been designed and built as part of the I.FAST collaboration as an energy saving alternative to traditional resistive electromagnets. The prototype magnet has been designed to meet the magnetic field requirements of the combined function dipole-quadrupole (DQ) magnets required for the Diamond-II upgrade. The prototype contains several design features for maintaining and tuning the field strength and quality, including a novel mechanical shimming method, trim coils and passive temperature compensation. We present here the results of the magnetic measurements of the built prototype magnet and demonstrate the ability to tune the field using the design features. We demonstrate that the nominal integrated field strength and homogeneity can be achieved with the permanent magnet solution, representing a 2.3 kW reduction in nominal power consumption compared to the equivalent electromagnet.

Speaker: Mr Alex Hinton

23 The Rapiscan Linac Test Beamline

X-ray based Cargo and Vehicle Inspection (CVI) systems are used for security and customs inspection applications. CVI systems primarily require compact and reliable linear accelerators for Bremsstrahlung-based X-ray transmission imaging of threats and contraband. X-ray imaging quality of CVI systems is impacted by the beam dynamics of linear accelerators.

Therefore, the Rapiscan Linac Test Beamline (LTB) is being developed as a test-bed for characterisation and development of linear accelerator systems. Characterisation of both electron bunch and X-ray pulse parameters allows evaluation of linac developments upon both X-ray production and the electron beam simultaneously. The LTB will facilitate development of linac hardware such as electron guns, accelerating cavities, converter targets and low-energy diagnostics in-conjunction with academic and industrial partners. Investigation of other linac applications, such as electron beam irradiation, will also be facilitated. Design of the Linac Test Beamline is presented with electron bunch diagnostic measurements outlined and simulated.

Speaker: Joe Crone (Rapiscan)

24 Thin Film SRF Cavity Developments at STFC Daresbury Laboratory

Superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities underpin many modern particle accelerators, enabling highly efficient acceleration with high duty cycle or continuous wave operation. However, SRF technology currently relies almost exclusively on bulk niobium cavities operating at around 2 K, resulting in significant capital and operational costs while performance approaches the theoretical limits of the material. Thin film SRF technology offers an alternative route to more sustainable accelerators by decoupling RF performance from the bulk, enabling the use of lower-cost substrates, such as copper, and alternative superconducting materials, including Nb3Sn, with the potential for operation at higher temperatures (e.g. 4.2 K).

STFC Daresbury Laboratory has maintained an active thin film SRF research programme for many years, spanning thin film depositions, materials characterisation and cryogenic superconducting property evaluation. Much of this work has focussed on the development and evaluation of planar samples, providing valuable insight into the relationship between deposition parameters, material properties and RF performance. Building on this foundation, recent efforts have increasingly focused on cavity-scale developments at 1.3 and 6 GHz. To support this transition, new deposition facilities have been established for cavity coating, alongside multiple dedicated cryogenic test stands for RF testing.

This presentation will discuss the progression from sample studies to cavity-scale developments and provides and overview of the new deposition and cryogenic test facilities that will enable the next stage of thin film SRF research at Daresbury Laboratory.

Speaker: Daniel Seal

25 Conference Close

Speaker: Andy Smith (University of Manchester)