A superconducting injector being developed at Niowave for the Navy’s free electron laser program generated its first beam of photoelectrons on June 9. The one-of-a-kind injector was built and tested by the Department of Defense and its contractors as part of a collaboration between the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Postgraduate School, Niowave and the Boeing Company.
While superconducting accelerator technology was once limited to applications in large research facilities, the latest advance by the Navy shows that the technology can also be applied to other areas such as national defense.
The accelerator will eventually be moved to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey CA, following further development at Niowave. Education of defense personnel will be one of the functions of the free electron laser program.
Niowave is a high-tech research, development and manufacturing firm specializing in superconducting particle accelerators.
