The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics

Abstract

The John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science (JAI) is a centre of excellence for advanced accelerator science and technology. We perform R&D and training, provide expertise, and promote accelerator applications in science and society. The JAI currently comprises 20 faculty, 23 staff, and 38 PhD students from the Physics Departments of Oxford University (UOXF), Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL), and Imperial College London (ICL). An additional 33 staff from the UK's national laboratories and CERN are affiliated with our research and teaching programmes. We have six guiding principles:

a) Develop, support and engagement of accelerator science facilities and R&D programmes of strategic importance for the UK;
b) Develop worldwide collaborations that enhance the capabilities available to us;
c) Develop novel acceleration and compact light source techniques and their applications;
d) Deliver a world leading training programme to develop the next generation of leaders in the field;
e) Communicate developments in the field to the public and decision makers;
f) Strengthen the links among the partner universities to deliver a programme that is greater than the sum of its parts.

For the period 2021-2025, we have focused on research areas that have the greatest benefit to national priorities:

- Low-emittance, high-brightness electron beams, including next-generation electron-positron colliders (ILC, CLIC), the Diamond Light Source (DLS) and its upgrade, and a future UK FEL.
- High-energy/high-intensity hadron beams, including current and future energy-frontier proton colliders (LHC, HL-LHC, FCC), and ISIS and its upgrade.
- Advanced acceleration techniques, including laser- and beam-driven plasma-wakefield acceleration.
- Particle-beam therapy applications using electron, proton and ion beams.

Through this programme we are supporting the UK's accelerator strategy by taking lead roles in both our national and overseas facilities including: DLS, ISIS and CLF at STFC/RAL, CLARA at STFC/DL, LHC, HL-LHC, CLIC, FCC and AWAKE at CERN, FLASHforward at DESY, and ATF/ATF2 at KEK.
These themes position us optimally to support our core goals of supporting major national and international accelerator developments; motivating our researchers and giving them skills in state-of-the-art technologies; and being able to transfer our knowledge to major collaborative developments and to industry.

Publications

10 25 50
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Nonnenmacher T (2021) Anomalous Beam Transport through Gabor (Plasma) Lens Prototype in Applied Sciences

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Doherty A (2023) Femtosecond multimodal imaging with a laser-driven X-ray source in Communications Physics

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Loughran B (2023) Automated control and optimization of laser-driven ion acceleration in High Power Laser Science and Engineering

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Xu N (2023) Versatile tape-drive target for high-repetition-rate laser-driven proton acceleration in High Power Laser Science and Engineering

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Danson C (2021) A history of high-power laser research and development in the United Kingdom in High Power Laser Science and Engineering

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Dickson L (2022) Mechanisms to control laser-plasma coupling in laser wakefield electron acceleration in Physical Review Accelerators and Beams

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Chakraborty K (2021) New physics at nuSTORM in Physical Review D

 
Description Science Board Member - Prof Z. Najmudin
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Membership of a guideline committee
URL https://stfc.ukri.org/about-us/how-we-are-governed/advisory-boards/science-board/
 
Description AWAKE-II 2
Amount £41,568,800 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/X006301/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 04/2023 
End 03/2025
 
Description STFC 2022-23 Impact Acceleration Account
Amount £62,383 (GBP)
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2022 
End 06/2023
 
Description STFC Imperial John Adams 2021 DTP
Amount £307,394 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/W507532/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2021 
End 09/2025
 
Description ePW
Amount £2,002,882 (GBP)
Organisation ELI Attosecond Light Pulse Source 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country Hungary
Start 05/2021 
End 07/2023
 
Title Zhi laser 
Description Development of a high intensity laser system 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Enables target / diagnostic preparation in the Blackett Laboratory 
 
Description CRISP 
Organisation Daresbury Laboratory
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Development of a proposal to generate laser wakefield accelerated beams for XFEL applications
Collaborator Contribution Addition of laser wakefield control and machine learning
Impact Initial discussions to discuss development of an laser wakefield generated electron beamline on the new EPAC facility at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
Start Year 2023
 
Description CRISP 
Organisation Queen's University Belfast
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of a proposal to generate laser wakefield accelerated beams for XFEL applications
Collaborator Contribution Addition of laser wakefield control and machine learning
Impact Initial discussions to discuss development of an laser wakefield generated electron beamline on the new EPAC facility at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
Start Year 2023
 
Description CRISP 
Organisation Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Department Central Laser Facility
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of a proposal to generate laser wakefield accelerated beams for XFEL applications
Collaborator Contribution Addition of laser wakefield control and machine learning
Impact Initial discussions to discuss development of an laser wakefield generated electron beamline on the new EPAC facility at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
Start Year 2023
 
Description CRISP 
Organisation University of Liverpool
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of a proposal to generate laser wakefield accelerated beams for XFEL applications
Collaborator Contribution Addition of laser wakefield control and machine learning
Impact Initial discussions to discuss development of an laser wakefield generated electron beamline on the new EPAC facility at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
Start Year 2023
 
Description CRISP 
Organisation University of Oxford
Department Department of Physics
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of a proposal to generate laser wakefield accelerated beams for XFEL applications
Collaborator Contribution Addition of laser wakefield control and machine learning
Impact Initial discussions to discuss development of an laser wakefield generated electron beamline on the new EPAC facility at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
Start Year 2023
 
Description CRISP 
Organisation University of Strathclyde
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of a proposal to generate laser wakefield accelerated beams for XFEL applications
Collaborator Contribution Addition of laser wakefield control and machine learning
Impact Initial discussions to discuss development of an laser wakefield generated electron beamline on the new EPAC facility at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
Start Year 2023
 
Description CRISP 
Organisation University of York
Department York Plasma Institute
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Development of a proposal to generate laser wakefield accelerated beams for XFEL applications
Collaborator Contribution Addition of laser wakefield control and machine learning
Impact Initial discussions to discuss development of an laser wakefield generated electron beamline on the new EPAC facility at Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory
Start Year 2023
 
Description Fusion Frontiers (York) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Talk on Laser Plasma Accelerators to York Fusion Frontiers course
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description School Visit (Krishna Avanti School) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Two visits. One a careers day presentation, and the second a Science Engagement (what is light?)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Talk on Fusion Energy 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Talk to IEEE society on the prospects of Fusion Energy (especially inertial confinement fusion).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022