Accelerator Science
The facilities that have grown up around
accelerator technology at Daresbury can benefit many industrial and
scientific sectors:
In healthcare, charged particle beams are used
in cancer detection and more importantly in cancer therapy, an area
undergoing a major research programme through the British
Accelerator Science Research in Oncology Consortium (BASROC).
In digital-ICT accelerator science has a long
history. The earliest manifestation of the World Wide Web in 1989
was the brainchild of the British computer scientist Tim
Berners-Lee at CERN the European Particle Physics Laboratory in
Geneva, which has a close relationship with Daresbury.
Examples of today's developments are in software for medical
imaging and the exploration and understanding of complex structures
through the advanced embedding and decoding of patterns, such via
neural networks algorithms.
In energy and environment scientists in
accelerator technology are looking at ways of supporting future
energy programmes. Artificial transmutation of waste (ATW) is one
area undergoing research, whereby scientists are looking at how the
harmful effects of radioactive nuclear waste may be
neutralised.
There is increasing pressure on the automotive and
aerospace engineering sector to make more efficient use of
fuel. Accelerator technology, applied to surface physics and
surface science, with associated micro-machining capabilities, has
already proven successful in developing more efficient
systems. At The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
Facility in the USA this has already resulted in a major increase
in the efficiency of fuel-injection systems for Siemens Automotive
industries. There is direct synergy with the Jefferson lab
technology and the emerging technology of Superconducting
Microwaves at Daresbury lab and Cockcroft Institute.
The above example for auto and aero engineering also benefits
from Daresbury's micro and nano technology
capabilities. Charged particle and light beams can be used
for micro-machining. Cold and superconducting accelerators
depend on an understanding of the surface properties of precious
metals such as Niobium. The required techniques of surface science
and technology are directly applicable to nano-fabrication of
micro-nozzles, for example.
There are major implications for the security and
instrumentation, detectors & advanced
engineering sectors, through the application of
Daresbury's expertise in charged particle beams, rapid switching,
sensor based switching, and the application of silicon components
as detectors.