This is the home of previous issues of the ATAP Newsletter, as well as that of our predecessor, the Accelerator and Fusion Research Division. Click here for the current issue and other latest news.
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February 2023
Enabling technologies for the next generation of particle accelerators and colliders; extensions to the capabilities of the award-winning WarpX simulation code; improving the performance and safety of high-temperature superconducting magnets; a rapid and inexpensive technique for detecting the COVID-19 virus; ATAP researchers teach courses the U.S. Particle Accelerator School; the Lab celebrates Black History Month; the importance of pronouns and how to use them; and Joe Chew, Science Writer & Editor, retires after 34 years at the Lab.
December 2022
BELLA’s Interaction Point 2 complete; ALS-U construction start approved; ATAP-led team wins Gordon Bell Prize; Multi-Lab Safety Week awards; DeChant, Natal win AAC student poster prizes; Cameron Geddes named to P5; APS DPB, DPP roles for Prestemon, Turner, Geddes; Making poster presentations accessible; Summer internship deadline Jan. 10.
November 2022
New understanding of Nb3Sn temperature performance; Derun Li moves to DOE; Director’s Awards for Corlett Brouwer, Corlett; Volunteer recognition for Reichel, Messe; Cameron Geddes wins Ray Sydney Award; Huang, Xu, Persaud ATAP Inventors of Year; Alex Dragt honored with Wilson Prize; Summer 2023 internships; ATAP, Lab at UCSB Career Day; Safety Week goes multi-lab.
September 2022
Second beamline for BELLA Petawatt laser completed. Multiple honors for staff include IEEE PAST Award for Doctoral Thesis Research (Axel Huebl); ACM Gordon Bell Prize finalist recognition for Jean-Luc Vay, Huebl, and Remi Lehe, and R&D 100 Award finalist honors for Gang Huang and Yilun Xu.
June 2022
Marlene Turner wins ECRP grant; QuBIC named Advanced Quantum Testbed Notable Achievement; Pride Month; ATAP’s tradition of USPAS teaching. 3Q4s on Arun Persaud and Qing Ji.
May 2022
Laser-plasma accelerators for cancer treatment. Measuring carbon in soil. ATAP at a new dawn for fusion energy. ATAP hosts IAEA meeting on qubits. In memoriam: Brian Kincaid. A look at where we are in our inclusiveness, diversity, equity, and accountability journey.
March 2022
Accelerator technology leads to open-source controls for quantum information systems. BELLA Center hosts three Office of Science Graduate Student Research Fellows. Nancy Pelosi, other VIPs tour Advanced Light Source. HiRES journal cover story. 3Q4: Neelay Fruitwala.
December 2021
Novel RF controls for quantum information systems. Advancements in coherent beam combining for fiber lasers. Deputy Energy Secretary visits, briefed on subjects including kBELLA. ICFA Beam Dynamics Newsletter modeling article. Leadership roles in Snowmass. APS Fellowship for Soren Prestemon.
September 2021
Plasma lensing for high-intensity lasers confirms that capillary length scale-up will work. ATAP aids study of how lasers might be used to study strong-field quantum electrodynamics. Accelerator Week is final act of 90th Anniversary celebrations, includes photostory on accelerator history here and in-depth interviews with Cameron Geddes and Antoine Wojdyla. Chad Mitchell wins Berkeley Lab Director’s Award; machine-learning team wins Advanced Light Source Klaus Halbach Award for Innovative Instrumentation; and Arun Persaud wins Outstanding Mentor Award. 3Q4: Ina Reichel.
July 2021
Innovative optical system makes a low-power guide beam at high repetition rate to precisely map the focus position and jitter of high power lasers. Accelerator-based technology to quickly and nonintrusively measure the amount and location of carbon in soil. BELLA Second Beamline milestone: low-power test beam reaches target chamber. BELLA postdoctoral scholar Marlene Turner invited to Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting. Superconducting Magnet Program student Jonathan Lee receives Engineering Graduate Fellowship for doctoral studies at Florida State University. 3Q4: Kei Nakamura; Asmita Patel and Doug Burkhardt.
May 2021
HL-LHC cabling at the halfway mark. Beam compressor installation is milestone for BELLA Second Beamline. Perspective: Laser-plasma-accelerated electron beams as drivers of free-electron lasers. Cameron Geddes appointed as ATAP Director. APS-DPP thesis honors for Lotti Obst-Huebl. 3Q4: Tianhuan Luo.
February 2021
HL-LHC receives CD-3 approval. Innovative plasma mirror to measure LPA electron beams. FESAC strategic plan. Testing of Nb3Sn undulator. Ludewigt named in Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award. AAC Seminar Series is a virtual success. 3Q4: Marlene Turner and Simon Leemann.
Laser-plasma microsource enables bi-modal imaging. HL-LHC AUP recommended for CD-3. Labs in the Time of COVID: A Day in the Life. Extensive ATAP participation in virtual APS-DPB meeting. Xiaorong Wang, Tengming Shen Elected to Applied Superconductivity Conference board. 3Q4: Axel Huebl and Martha Condon.
November 2020
Labs in the Time of COVID: A Day in the Life. HL-LHC AUP Fermilab Director’s Review. LaserNetUS funding renewed. Virtual presence at Applied Superconductivity Conference. ATAP contributes to ALS during annual shutdown.
August 2020
ATAP, Engineering technology contributes to first light at LCLS-II. Laser, biosciences researchers collaborate on COVID-19-relevant droplet research. ECRP for Tong Zhou.
April 2020
Tri-lab collaboration sets magnetic field record for accelerator focusing magnets with niobium-tin quadrupole for High-Luminosity LHC; ATAP, Molecular Foundry collaborate on new electron source with beams as fast as those available now but 100 times smaller.
March 2020
Ionization cooling demonstrated; ALS-U granted CD-3a; ATAP instructors play key roles at USPAS.
December 2019
Machine learning applied successfully to feedforward beam-size stabilization at Advanced Light Source. ATAP science and technology highlights of 2019.
October 2019
Innovative control and stabilization technique enables spatially coherent combining of ultrafast laser pulses. LCLS-II injector source transitions to operations. DOE committee recommends CD-3a for ALS-U. Excellence in Accelerators video.
July 2019
First electrons from LCLS-II gun; cold fusion revisited; prospective gamma-ray source based on laser-electron collisions. Tips on beating the heat this summer.
April 2019
Breakthrough in computational study of laser-plasma interactions. First Workshop on Instrumentation and Diagnostics for Superconducting Magnets. Safety Day recap.
February 2019
New laser-plasma electron energy record at BELLA: 8 GeV. Meet the new BELLA leadership team. Berkeley Lab joins LaserNetUS. Physics Nobel cites BELLA. Lasers, modeling, and US Magnet Development Program cited among year’s highlights by APS-DPB. Synergies of fusion science, quantum computing explored in workshop report. Lab hosts Diffraction-Limited Storage Rings Workshop.
AFRD NEWSLETTER
The Accelerator and Fusion Research Division (as ATAP was known until September 2014) published a newsletter for a largely intramural audience from September 2013 until August 2014. The monthly issues are available below.
The Advanced Light Source comes back from its scheduled summer shutdown with new upgrades. A recap of the Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop. Get To Know Your Colleague: Jeroen van Tilborg. Links of the Month: a new parking policy to help expectant mothers.
June 2014
Scientific opportunities with the intense, pulsed ion beams of the AFRD facility NDCX-II. Daniele Filippetto wins prestigious DOE Early Career Research Program funding. Get To Know Your Colleague: Chuck Swenson. Links of the Month: Live video feed from the International Space Station and a guide to seeing it fly over, SpotTheStation.nasa.gov.
May 2014
Remarks on our reorganization by Division Director Wim Leemans. An appreciation of the life and career of the late Andy Sessler by retired AFRD Director and now US Particle Accelerator School Director Bill Barletta. Andre Anders wins the Dyke Award, the highest honor of the International Symposia on Discharge and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum (ISDEIV). A recap of Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
April 2014
Highlights of recent improvements to the ALS. Mission of the Physical Sciences Directorate Workplace Life Committee. Get To Know Your Colleague: Russell Wilcox. Link of the Month: Workplace Climate Survey results.
A milestone for the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE). Andre Anders wins the Dyke Award, the highest honor of the International Symposia on Discharge and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum (ISDEIV). Get To Know Your Colleague: Arun Persaud. Link of the Month: Universe Today article on the direct evidence for cosmic inflation.
February 2014
Wim Leemans named AFRD Director. Steve Gourlay elected vice-chair of American Physical Society, Division of Physics of Beams. Get To Know Your Colleague: Joe Riley. Link of the Month: Google Maps goes underground in the Large Hadron Collider tunnel.
January 2014
Andrew Sessler wins DOE’s Enrico Fermi Award. Steve Gourlay elected vice-chair of American Physical Society, Division of Physics of Beams. Get To Know Your Colleague: James Swanson. Link of the Month: The Particle Adventure.
December 2013
Fernando Sannibale named a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Canted Cosine-Theta (CCT) superconducting magnet. Get To Know Your Colleague: Alex Ratti. Link of the Month: Harvard test for implicit biases.
November 2013
Advanced Light Source pseudo-single-bunch operation with adjustable frequency. Back-up for children (and adult) dependent caregivers offered through LBNL. Get To Know Your Colleague: Hamed Tarawneh. Link of the Month: myfamily.lbl.gov.
October 2013
The LBNL Center for Science and Engineering Education marks its 25th birthday with a new name: the Workforce Development and Education Office. North American Particle Accelerator Conference overview. Get To Know Your Colleague: Herb Toor. Link of the Month: New York Times Magazine article on women in science.
September 2013
The premiere issue. Acoustic emissions serve as superconducting-magnet quench diagnostics. Advanced Light Source Sextupole Upgrade completed successfully. Get To Know Your Colleague: Steve Gourlay. Link of the Month: Maglev model train on a Möbius strip.
