Laboratory's technology milestone

A BRAND new technology that promises a range of applications from treating cancer to powering safer nuclear reactors has reached another world first in its development – at the Daresbury Laboratory, near Warrington.
Scientists across the world are celebrating the successful start up of the pioneering EMMA accelerator which is set to have a major impact on fundamental science and change the way particle accelerators across the world are designed and built in the future.
EMMA is a proof of principle prototype for a brand new type of particle accelerator, designed by an international team of scientists, including a number of the UK’s top universities and institutes.
It is funded by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Basic Technology programme.
Particle accelerators already have a wide range of uses in many areas of science, but their potential is limited by their size, complexity and cost. EMMA will provide the technology to overcome these issues and take these applications to a new level.
A compact 20 million electron volt prototype, EMMA not only uses technology that is simpler and less expensive than equivalent accelerators in existence, it also promises applications from treating cancer to powering safer nuclear reactors that produce less hazardous waste.
EMMA has now achieved its most significant milestone yet. For the first time, an electron beam was steered around the circumference of EMMA’s ring and then successfully accelerated to 18 MeV. This world first, not only confirms that the design of the most technically demanding aspects of EMMA is sound, it also demonstrates the feasibility of EMMA’s technology, which now paves the way for the construction of a whole new generation of more powerful, yet more compact and economical accelerators.
Project leader Professor Roger Barlow said: “This is an outstanding milestone for EMMA AND will define the way forward for this kind of particle accelerator across the world.”
Susan Smith, Director of ASTeC at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory said: “This is a great achievement, and is testament to the skill and dedication of the engineering and technical staff at Daresbury Laboratory, as well as to all the national and international partners and collaborators. This milestone marks the beginning of a detailed experimental programme that will provide all the information required for the design and construction of all future accelerators of this type.”
Picture (courtesy STFC): the EMMA particle accelerator at Daresbury