Speaker
Description
Madison Accelerator Laboratory (MAL) is a unique electron/bremsstrahlung facility on the campus of James Madison University. The facility features a medical electron linear accelerator (linac), an X-ray imaging system, and a suite of particle detection instrumentation. The Siemens Mevatron linac produces electron beams with energies from 6-15 MeV and bremsstrahlung photon beams with endpoint energies from 6-15 MeV. Since its operation in 2017, MAL has produced results for both applied and basic nuclear physics research, but challenges remain in repurposing and transforming a clinical linac into a multidisciplinary user-research facility. This presentation will provide an overview of current research projects and collaborations ongoing at MAL as well as potential future additional research directions. Challenges of MAL’s operation include measuring bremsstrahlung endpoint energies and photon flux; these will be discussed and results and progress will be presented. The ultimate goal of MAL is to become a user facility that enables research in a wide range of nuclear science applications. This presentation seeks to disseminate the progress towards that end.
