Development of Photonic Band Gap Structures for Particle Acceleration

As the dimensions of fundamental scientific and technological structures and processes become smaller, research in these areas is often limited to a few very large and costly particle accelerator facilities. A revolutionary approach utilizing photonic band-gap (PBG) microstructures offers the opportunity to develop compact high-gradient inexpensive accelerators. A unique opportunity of this proposal is that this new generation of linear particle accelerator (linac) with a 20-100-fold increase in accelerating gradients relative to OFHC copper also provides potential revolutions in other fields that rely on the use of free electron bunches or beams. Among many examples are instruments needed for both the fabrication and characterization of nanostructures because these are typically based on high-energy electron and ion beams i.e. e-beam lithography, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, focused ion beams, X-ray sources, Auger spectroscopy and the like. In Phase I Incom Incorporated (Charlton, MA) and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) will collaborate to fabricate PBG structures in borosilicate glass that serve as TM01 cavities and couplers when properly driven by lasers and will allow tests of basic concepts for PBG accelerators. SLAC will provide theoretical guidance, optical testing of prototypes, and develop the approach for coupling of optical fields and electron beams to the array. Incom will fabricate PBG structures by extending their established borosilicate microcapillary technology and develop paradigms for extending the fabrication to fused silica (SiO2) in Phase II. Incom Phase I deliverables will include development of processes to reliably produce PBG glass samples. SLAC deliverables will include development of physical diagnostic and modeling techniques, to assess their utility for electron accelerator applications at 2-micron wavelengths. A full technical report and program plan for continued development will be prepared. Commercial Application and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: - Successful development of photonic bandgap accelerators will result in a new class of small powerful low-cost accelerators that could eventually lead beyond ¿tabletop¿ systems to create highly integrated, subminiature systems based on IC technology or full systems on a single chip (SOCs). These small inexpensive accelerators will have applications throughout industrial fabrication, structural analysis, diagnostics, and instrumentation. Potential medical benefits are profound e.g. by supplying systems with transmission through tissue but that do no damage such as THz versus x rays.