Advanced accelerator research promises to improve the power and efficiency of today's particle accelerators, enhancing applications in medicine and high-energy physics, and providing potential benefits for research in materials science, biology and energy research. FACET—Facilities for Accelerator science and Experimental Test beams at SLAC—will study plasma acceleration using short, intense pulses of electrons and positrons to create an acceleration source called a plasma wakefield accelerator.
Plasma wakefield acceleration is one of the most promising approaches to advance accelerator technology, with a potential 1,000-fold or more increase in acceleration over a given distance, compared to existing accelerator technology. SLAC is the only place in the world with the high peak current, high-energy electron and positron beams required to continue the development of beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. FACET's scientific program will achieve several key steps on the roadmap to a plasma wakefield linear collider and will sustain US leadership in accelerator physics.
FACET's unique high-power beams will also provide other important science opportunities, both for high-energy physics and basic energy sciences. FACET will support a user facility with research opportunities in accelerator development for the proposed International Linear Collider, dielectric wakefield accelerators, as well as terahertz radiation and materials science.
