High Current Energy Recovery Linac at BNL

Application/instrumentation:
High Current Energy Recovery Linac
Developed at:
Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York and Advanced Energy Systems, New York
Developed in:
2004-2007
Result of NP research:
Electron cooling R&D for RHIC
Application currently being supported by:
DOE and DOD
Impact/benefit to spin-off field:
High current Energy Recovery Linacs


High-current and high-brightness Energy Recovery Linacs (ERL) are emerging technology with numerous applications in science user facilities, industry and medicine. In order to get a very high current, approaching an ampere CW, the power loss to Higher-Order Modes (HOM) has to be minimized in all the ERL components, such as accelerating cavities and electron gun, and the dangerous HOMs must be damped efficiently.

A high-Current ERL is under construction at BNL. The ERL will use the highly damped, 5-cell superconducting ERL cavity and the high-current superconducting laser-photocathode RF gun, both operating at a frequency of 703.75 MHz. The ERL will demonstrate the performance of these cutting edge accelerator elements and open the way for various applications, such as electron cooling of hadron colliders, electron-ion colliders, high-power Free-Electron Lasers, high-brightness synchrotron radiation user facilities and much more.

Above, the layout of the ampere-class ERL at BNL.