Elise plans and progress

Elise is a heavy-ion induction linear accelerator that will demonstrate beam manipulations required in a driver for inertial fusion energy. With a line charge density similar to that of heavy-ions drivers, Elise will accelerate a beam pulse (duration of 1 μs or more) of K+ ions from an initial energy of 2 MeV to a final energy 5 MeV or more. In the present design, the Elise electrostatic quadrupoles (ESQs) will have an aperture of radius 2.33 cm operating at ± 59 kV. The half-lattice periods range from 21 to 31 cm. The entire machine will be approximately 30 m long, half of which is the induction accelerator with the remaining half being the injector (including the Marx generator) and the matching section. Elise will be built in a way that allows future expansion into the full Induction Linear Accelerator Systems Experiments (ILSE) configuration, so it will have an array of four ESQ focusing channels capable of transporting up to a total of 3.2 A of beam current. Elise will also have an active alignment system with an alignment tolerance of less than 0.1 mm. Initially, only one beam channel will be used during nominal Elise operation. At the currently expected funding rate, the construction time will be 4.75 years, with FY95 being an extra year for research and development before construction. Total project cost is estimated to be US$25.9m, including contingency costs.