Laboratory Overview and Projects

The John E. Edwards Accelerator Laboratory was established when Ohio University received a one-million dollar grant from the Atomic Energy Commission in the late sixties for an accelerator.  As other accelerators have been closed down across the country, we find ourselves in a unique position. We have the only MeV ion accelerator in a college or university in Ohio. Many of our individual capabilities are now not available anywhere else in the U.S. The 4.5 million volt tandem accelerator is still being used today and the breadth of research covered now includes materials science as well as nuclear physics. The work encompasses many areas of both pure and applied research.

In the field of nuclear physics, the work has covered fields as diverse as medicine and basic nuclear physics. Research has been done for National Institute of Health and others in support of medical uses of neutrons. For many years, work has been done here for the U.S. fusion reactor program. The accelerator and its support facilities are used frequently to test and calibrate particle detection systems used at other higher energy accelerators both in the U.S. and other countries. Fundamental research into the nuclear shell model, a key to our understanding to nucleus of the atom, has been part of the research program. In addition to work solely originated at Ohio University, and because of the unique capabilities found in the laboratory, collaborations are often sought with us by workers at other U.S. universities and national laboratories.  Visiting researchers have become a regular feature in our laboratory.

Research  Programs

Many types of nuclear research are carried out at the laboratory, but the main emphasis has been on studies of the neutron-nucleus interaction, i.e., the study of the nuclear force and the structure of the atomic nucleus using neutrons as probes. Neutrons, which are a constituent of the atomic nucleus, are generated in the laboratory via nuclear reactions.

The W.M. Keck Thin Film Analysis Facility integrates several techniques within a set of coupled UHV chambers to provide analysis and preparation facilities for research on surfaces and thin films.

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Fusion Research Part of this research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to study the interactions of neutrons with light elements such as lithium, boron and carbon which will be utilized as shielding components of fusion reactor designs of the future. .   Cancer and Medical Beginning in 1978, a portion of the effort at the Accelerator Laboratory was directed toward the investigation of new methods in the treatment of cancer. .   W.M. Keck Thin Film Analysis Facility With the founding in 1994 of the W.M. Keck Thin Film Analysis Facility, the materials science capabilities of the Accelerator Laboratory have been greatly extended.

Archives
Visit the archives to find projects that have been completed and to read summaries about each past project.