(Los Angeles, CA 27APR07) RadiaBeam Technologies has been awarded two Phase I Small Business Innovation in Research (SBIR) grants by the Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE evaluated 1,318 applications, of which 280 were selected to receive SBIR awards, and 40 were selected to receive Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards. This marks the fourth year in a row that RadiaBeam has been among the awardees of this competition.
One grant will fund the development of a new, real-time terahertz (THz) interferometer for the precise measurement of ultra-short relativistic electron beams. The measurement of these pulses is critical to next-geneation accelerator applications, such as ultra-fast x-ray science and high-energy physics using linear colliders. Travelling at nearly the speed of light, the electron bunches can be less than one thousandth of an inch long, passing by a point in space in less than one trillionths of a second. Such a fast signal is very difficult to measure, but some techniques have been developed to do so. However to date, all of these techniques are either destructive or "multi-shot," which means that the measurement can not be made on-line, shot-to-shot, as required by the next-generation applications. As a follow-up to our successful product, the multi-shot Bunch Length Interferometer System, RadiaBeam will develop a single-shot, real-time intereferometer using a novel THz autocorrelation technique.
The other grant received is for research into a advanced manufacturing technique for RF photoinjector guns. High duty factor photoinjectors are a critical component of the next generation of applications in high energy electron beam-based physics. The key technical problem for high average power, normal conducting photoinjectors is effective structure cooling. Currently, the fabrication of high average power photoinjectors relies on conventional design and fabrication techniques, with limited cooling channel geometries. RadiaBeam has patented a new fabrication process that will allow complex, conformal cooling channels to be integrated into radio frequency (RF) structures.
Additional information on RadiaBeam is available at the company web site: http://www.radiabeam.com/
About RadiaBeam Technologies, LLC
RadiaBeam Technologies manufactures products, performs directed research, and provides custom design and engineering services in the beam and accelerator research sector.
Our products come from technology transfer, licensing and original designs. We focus on novel acceleration methods, diagnostics, subsystems and EM radiation production.
The company has three main regimes of specialization: high brightness beams, femtosecond systems, and novel industrial / medical accelerators.
About the SBIR Program
The SBIR program is a highly competitive grant system that encourages small business to explore their technological potential. SBIR funds the critical startup and development stages and it encourages the commercialization of the technology, product, or service, which, in turn, stimulates the U.S. economy. Since its enactment in 1982, as part of the Small Business Innovation Development Act, SBIR has helped thousands of small businesses to compete for federal research and development awards.
# # #