CALIFES: A Multi-Purpose Electron Beam for Accelerator Technology Tests

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) project aims to accelerate and collide electrons and positrons up to 3 TeV center-of-mass energy using a novel two-beam acceleration concept. To prove the feasibility of this technology the CLIC Test Facility CTF3 has been operated during the last years. CALIFES (Concept d’Accelerateur Lineaire pour Faisceau d’Electron Sonde) is an electron linac hosted in the CTF3 complex, which provides a flexible electron beam and the necessary equipment to probe both the two-beam acceleration concept and novel instrumentation to be used in the future CLIC collider. In this paper we describe the CALIFES Linac and its beam characteristics, present recent test results, outline its future program on two-beam module testing and finally discuss about possible future applications as a multi-purpose accelerator technology test facility.