The latest ATAP Newsletter features a new superconducting magnet design that could lay the groundwork for more compact, higher-power particle accelerators and a future muon collider; an advanced 3D imaging technique that could help uncover valuable resources on other planets and asteroids; a new initiative by ATAP and the Lab’s Engineering Division to develop high-power lasers for next-generation accelerators and broader applications; and divisional outreach and education activities that support the Lab’s mission and goals.
Researchers from our Superconducting Magnet Program, in collaboration with colleagues from the Lab’s Engineering Division, have designed and built a prototype superconducting magnet with an elliptical aperture. Based on a canted cosine-theta geometry and wound with niobium-titanium conductors, this magnet can generate both dipole and quadrupole magnetic fields, supporting the development of advanced accelerators and a future muon collider, as well as scientific, industrial, and medical applications requiring high-power beams, including advances in materials science and medical diagnostics and treatment.
A powerful new imaging technology developed by our Fusion Science & Ion Beam Technology Program and collaborators can produce 3D images of hydrogen-rich materials. The imager, called the In-Situ Nuclear Spectrometer with 3D Resolution (INSPECT3R), based on Associated Particle Imaging, could be used in future planetary missions to better characterize hydrogen (a water-ice proxy), improve our understanding of solar system volatiles, uncover potentially valuable resources on the Moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies, and help us search for signs of life. INSPECT3R might also improve our understanding of Earth’s soil geochemistry, leading to better land management.
Learn how our recently launched Berkeley Advanced Laser Group, a collaboration among researchers from our BELLA Center, our Berkeley Accelerator Controls & Instrumentation (BACI) Program, and the Lab’s Engineering Division, is developing innovative lasers that deliver both high peak and high average power, advancing particle accelerators and enabling broad applications across science, industry, medicine, and defense.
Earlier this month, Berkeley Lab hosted a two-day workshop that launched a roadmap to develop laser-plasma accelerators and high-power laser technology to support applications and facilities for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). The workshop brought together 60 leading experts in accelerators, lasers, artificial intelligence, diagnostics, detectors, controls, and facility operations, along with representatives of BES’s user community.
Learn how a collaborative effort led by Berkeley Lab, through the Multi-Office Particle Accelerator Team project, will use AI to enhance the capabilities of DOE’s current and future particle accelerators. Its goal is to transform the design, operation, and optimization of particle accelerators by connecting data, expertise, and innovation through the development and deployment of groundbreaking AI foundation models and intelligent assistants that leverage collective knowledge and data across DOE’s extensive accelerator complex. The project, led by Jean-Luc Vay, ATAP’s Advanced Modeling Program Head, includes researchers from Berkeley Lab, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory.
In another exciting collaboration, Berkeley Lab and NVIDIA have partnered to leverage Berkeley Lab’s Quantum bit Controller (QubiC) to run hybrid applications across Quantum Processing Units, Graphics Processing Units, and Central Processing Units. The partnership, called NVQLink, promises advances in scientific research and new discoveries.
The QubiC technology is also a key component of a quantum computing stack under development by the Advanced Quantum Testbed, managed by Berkeley Lab. The stack includes the hardware, software, and controls designed to enable error-corrected quantum computations—a major step toward scalable quantum computers.
Finally, as part of a long-standing tradition of nurturing the next generation of particle accelerator scientists and engineers, Simon Leemann, a staff scientist and deputy head of our Advanced Light Source Accelerator Physics Program, and Carl Schroeder, a senior scientist at BELLA, taught a 14-week graduate course at the University of California, Berkeley. The course, “Particle Accelerator Technology and Beam Physics,” offered through the university’s Department of Nuclear Engineering, provided the 27 enrolled students with a thorough grounding in the field. It also included a guided tour of Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS), a state-of-the-art synchrotron user facility supported by the BES and serving nearly 1,700 users each year across the physical and life sciences.
Written by Carl A. Williams or other authors as credited.
For more information on ATAP News articles, contact caw@lbl.gov.
