We are delighted to announce that the Conceptual Design Report of the proposed new Free Electron Laser Test Facility, CLARA, has been published on the ASTeC website today and is available for download
here (PDF - 9824kB - link opens in a new window) (link opens in a new window).
This CDR describes an exciting and ambitious new accelerator test facility for the UK which will be capable of testing many 4th and 5th generation light source techniques and technologies. Our vision for CLARA is that it should be dedicated to the production of ultra-short photon pulses of high-brightness coherent light. In order to achieve this vision, CLARA must be able to implement advanced techniques, such as laser seeding, laser-electron bunch manipulation, and femtosecond synchronisation. These can only be achieved by developing a state-of-the-art accelerator with the capability to drive current FEL designs. CLARA is therefore of direct relevance to the wider international accelerator community and will also ensure that the UK has all the skills required should it choose to develop its own future FEL facility.
We would like to thank the whole project team, which includes accelerator experts from across the UK and beyond, for their hard work and dedication that they have shown in producing this design report. The focus for the team now moves onto the more detailed Technical Design phase whilst in parallel specifying the first accelerating section which is expected to be installed towards the end of 2014.
