Terahertz driven dielectric linacs

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The main beneficiaries of this research are the users of HEP colliders but they will not be the only beneficiaries. The development of high gradient accelerating structures and deflecting cavities for high resolution bunch length will have major implications on the many communities using accelerators. This would also extend to the users of FELs. The reduction in the size and hence cost of particle accelerators will have major effects on

1) Radiotherapy and future liancs for very high energy electron therapy and proton therapy allowing compact machines with much smaller gantries and the use of linacs in surgery
2) High energy cheap electrons would open up the possibility of deep electron beam curing. At present the limited energy of compact machines limit the technique to only a shallow layer from the surface.
3) Security cargo scanning linacs would benefit from compact high energy machine as it would allow nuclear resonance to produce reactions that could be used for material discrimination. The large size and cost of current rhodotron based systems is a major limitation in the current exploitation of this method.
4) If the size and cost can be sufficiently reduced then it may be possible for there to be many more accelerators such that every hospital and university would eventually have one.

It is likely that a high energy accelerator the size of a pencil could eventually be developed opening the possibility of novel industrial and medical uses that have not be considered before.