General Lab Information

Applying for Facility Access

The Accelerator Facilities serve a broad community of researchers from national and international laboratories, universities and businesses that use accelerators and lasers. Access is provided for fundamental accelerator science, accelerator technology development, and for users who wish to exploit the accelerator capabilities that are available at the facility. The facility is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of High-Energy Physics under the Accelerator Stewardship program and provides free beam access to qualified researchers performing non-proprietary work whose results will be public. Full cost recovery is in effect for proprietary research (as well as for raw materials and manufacturing support provided by the facility).

Experimental Options

The Accelerator Facilities presently offers the ATF facility for experiments utilizing its high brightness electron beam and various laser systems, including a TW-class CO2 laser system. A summary of the capabilities available to the ATF Users is available here.

We also offer the Low Energy Accelerator Development (LEAD) Facility which provides access to an MeV-class Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED) device and two radiation-shielded accelerator development and test bunkers offering 1,648 and 833 sq. ft. of research space, respectively, with a dedicated controls area to enable a broad range research and development activities with external partners and users.

Access to both ATF and LEAD capabilities, as well as AFD expertise, can be obtained through a new research network, BeamNetUS, created by the DOE Office of Accelerator R&D and Production.

Application Process

Requests for access to the Accelerator Facilities are made through the Proposal Allocation, Safety, and Scheduling (PASS) System, which is administered by the BNL GUV Center. When entering a proposal, requests for beam time can be made as a Proprietary or Non-Proprietary User for access to the following capabilities in Building 820 for ATF or in Building 912 for the Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED):

  • Electron Beam
  • Laser (LWIR and/or NIR)
  • Electron Beam and Laser (LWIR and/or NIR)
  • Utrafast Electron Diffraction (UED)

Applications for access to the Accelerator Facilities are evaluated by the AFD Program Advisory Committee (APAC), which meets annually. Apply for access by selecting the create new proposal option in the PASS proposal submission system, making sure to attach a scientific case complete with references (Note: a Google account is required for PASS access). We ask that users attach the 5-page AFD proposal document (.docx) to their PASS application. AFD proposal submission is now administered by the GUV center, please address any questions about the submission process to Mary Jane Ilardi.

Potential users are encouraged to contact the relevant capability coordinator to discuss details such as the required electron beam parameters, laser parameters, beam line space allocation, and for help in estimating the required beam time.

For help with labor requirements and hazard assessments, please contact the AFD ESH Manager, Karl Kusche.

Three categories of User Access are provided for the use of the Accelerator Facilities:

Regular Access: In this case, new proposals are submitted as part of the annual call for proposals and are scheduled for oral presentation at the APAC and Users Meeting. Approval for Regular Access is made by the AFD Director based on recommendations made by the APAC. Regular Access to the facilities will be scheduled by the AFD Operations Coordinator based on the time request that is described in the proposal. Beam Time proposals are presently being accepted for 3 years duration for electron beam, LWIR, NIR, and UED capabilities.

Fast Track Access: In exceptional situations of justified urgency, a new user experiment may be considered for Fast Track Access approval before the time of the next APAC meeting. Fast Track Access is approved by the AFD Director in consultation with the Associate Laboratory Director. Fast Track Access is granted only until the next APAC meeting; at that time, the proposal must be resubmitted for full approval under the Regular Access process.

Feasibility Study Access: This access is aimed at checking if the requirements of an experiment match the capabilities of the Accelerator F acility in order to support a proposal for a regular experiment. A Feasibility Study can be approved by the AFD Director for a limited period, not to exceed one year, with the understanding that such access receives lower priority than user experiments approved for Regular or Fast Track Access.

Procedures for Approved Experiments

Approved users must ensure that a research agreement is in place between their institution and Brookhaven National Laboratory; to confirm agreement status or to put a new agreement in place, please contact Mary Jane Ilardi.

As soon as your experiment has been approved visit the AFD User's Place for more information regarding scheduling beam time and how to apply for site access.

Annual reporting is mandated by DOE for users of Office of Science User Facilities. This reporting takes place in the form of an oral presentation at the annual APAC meeting by the Principal Investigator or another registered member of the experimental team. A written report summarizing each year’s progress must also be submitted. All experiments are required to submit a written report upon completion of the experiment.

ATF control room