LIFE is a world-wide unique test-facility integrating an advanced photo-injector, SPARC, to a high powerful laser system, FLAME, within a laboratory structure hosting a variety of scientific and technological instrumentation, such to allow the development of a wide spectrum inter-disciplinary leading-edge research activity, based on the unique combination of high brightness high rapidity electron beams with high intensity ultra-short laser pulses, which in turns can lead to the production of a variety of advanced beams of X/gamma rays, FEL/THz radiation, protons/light ions (and potentials for polarized positrons and neutrons).
The combined availability of these Beam Sources and related instrumentation, together with advanced expertise in the accelerator/laser/plasma physics and technologies, will lead to unprecedented potentials of research and discoveries at INFN-LNF by a multi-institutional national effort (INFN, ENEA, CNR), aiming in the mid-term at the completion and full comissioning of the LIFE test-facility, necessary to launch a mid to long-term research program in the fields of: FEL physics and applications, Advanced beam physics, Laser/Plasma based ion sources, Advanced radiation sources and applications, Laser/Plasma physics, Ultra-high gradient acceleration.
A foreseeable scenario for the future scientific program of the integrated LIFE test-facility will comprise User Experiments, appli-cation oriented, with investigation of matter at functional level, and Developer Experiments, technique oriented, aiming toward the high energy frontier, propedeutical to investigation of matter at fundamental level.
Mission of the LIFE Coordination Committee is primarily to stimulate discussions and submissions of proposals for experiments to be performed at the LIFE test-facility, verify that new proposals will not conflict, in terms of instrumentation, space and beam time requests, with the already approved and funded plans of commissioning and development of the facility, and release endorsements for the LNF laboratory directorship (as well as for any funding agency/institution interested to do so), both in terms of feasibility of the proposed experiment inside the facility infrastructure, and in terms of the specific scientific interest and validity within the context of the LIFE areas of research.
BEATS/BEATS2 advanced radio-logical imaging with mono-chromatic X-rays from Thomson Source since 2008
SITE self-injection of electrons in plasma waves driven into the bubble regime by FLAME pulses into supersonic gas-jets since 2008
TERASPARC THz high power radiation pulses generated by short SPARC electron bunches onto metallic thin targets since 2009
LILIA ions/protons production by FLAME pulses onto metallic foils since 2010
COMB resonant plasma wave generation by COMB electron beams since 2011
EXTERNAL INJECTION of ultra-short SPARC electron bunches into plasma waves drive n by FLAME pulses since 2011
IFEL (high gradient acceleration in vacuum via inverse free electron laser of SPARC electron bunches driven by FLAME laser into an ad-hoc tapered undulator)
FRESH-BUNCH technique investigation in seeding and harmonic cascade FEL mode
User experiments from the SPARX user community, precursors to SPARX FEL experiments, conducted with the SPARC FEL radiation beams at longer wavelenghts (100-500 nm)