The ORION facility

ORION will be a user-oriented research facility for understanding the physics and developing the technology for future high-energy particle accelerators, as well as for research in related fields. The facility has as its centerpiece the Next Linear Collider Test Accelerator (NLCTA) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). The NLCTA will be modified with the addition of a new, high-brightness photoinjector, its drive laser, an S-band rf power system, a user laser room, a low-energy experimental hall supplied with electron beams up to 60 MeV in energy, and a high-energy hall supplied with beams up to 350 MeV. The facility design and parameters are described here along with highlights from the 2nd ORION Workshop held in February 2003.