Argonne National Laboratory
Accelerator Systems
Pioneering next-generation accelerator and X-ray technologies for scientific breakthroughs.
Particle accelerators are essential tools for scientific discovery, medical advancements, and industrial applications. From enabling high-brightness X-ray sources to advancing high-energy physics and nuclear science, accelerator technology drives breakthroughs across disciplines.
At Argonne National Laboratory, researchers develop high-performance accelerators and compact free-electron lasers through innovations in beam physics and superconducting radio-frequency technology.
Key areas of focus include:
- Accelerator design and simulation – Harnessing advanced computational tools and machine learning techniques to optimize beam dynamics, enhance accelerator performance and pioneer innovative beam manipulation techniques.
- Operating flagship facilities – Powering critical basic science research with the Advanced Photon Source (APS), enabling nuclear physics breakthroughs at the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), developing radio isotopes for medicine, national security and research applications at the Low Energy Accelerator Facility (LEAF).
- Next-generation accelerators – Driving high-efficiency, high-gradient acceleration techniques to shrink system footprints using advanced beam-driven Wakefield structures, enabling future energy frontier colliders and compact X-ray free electron lasers.
- Superconducting radiofrequency technologies – Developing superconducting cavities to drive high-current ion and electron accelerators with minimal losses.
- Coherent X-ray science – Expanding X-ray-based techniques, enhancing real-time data processing, and advancing undulator technologies for higher photon energy and multiline compact X-ray free-electron lasers.
Researchers at Argonne integrate accelerator design, particle beam manipulation, and advanced detector technology to develop next-generation capabilities. Facilities such as the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator and others provide a testbed for cutting-edge accelerator science, supporting the planning of future accelerator and light sources, as well as the Electron-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
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FEATURED STORIES
ACCELERATING NUCLEAR DISCOVERIES
Exploring the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS)
The Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) is the prime national user facility for nuclear structure research and is the world’s first superconducting accelerator for projectiles heavier than the electron. The accelerator facility enables pioneering research into our understanding of matter, nuclear forces and the origin of the elements. ATLAS is capable of accelerating ions of all elements, both stable and radioactive, from hydrogen to uranium, for research into the properties of the nucleus — the core of matter and the fuel of stars.
