Description
Energy recovery linacs (ERLs) have been emphasized by the 2020 update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics as one of the most promising technologies for the accelerator base of future high-energy physics. Their unique combination of bright, linac-like beam quality with high average current and extremely flexible time structure, excellent operating efficiency, and compact footprint opens the door to previously unattainable performance regimes.
The present contribution advertises the PERLE project, in construction at Orsay, as a critical milestone in the development of ERLs. It is specifically designed to validate choices for a 50 GeV ERL envisioned in the design of the Large Hadron Electron Collider (LHeC) and, potentially, for the Future Circular Collider (FCC-eh).
In addition, PERLE will provide a high-energy (∼ 150 keV) X-ray source through the inverse Compton scattering process thanks to a high-finesse Fabry-Perot optical cavity. Moreover, PERLE could host unique experiments in nuclear physics by studying electron-nucleus interactions with radioactive nuclei.
The implementation will operate in a first phase (∼ 2029) in a single-turn mode reaching an energy of 89 MeV followed by a second phase (∼ 2031) with three turns to achieve a 5 MW beam power at 250 MeV.
After the 3-turn demonstration phase, PERLE could become a Test Facility for Future Accelerator and System aimed at improving their energy efficiency and in particular for validating and testing the 800-MHz cryomodules for FCC.
The installation of a second cryomodule to reach 500 MeV energy and 10 MW beam power is considered further in time, as an option requiring an important upgrade of the facility.
