Nicolas Savard is a Physicist at D-Pace, where he works on the design, modeling, and operation of ion sources and low-energy beamline components for particle accelerator systems. With over 10 years of experience in particle accelerators, plasma physics, and ion source physics, Nicolas has contributed to the development of advanced simulation tools and experimental systems supporting accelerator-based research and applications.
Nicolas holds a PhD in Physics from the University of British Columbia and has experience developing advanced particle-in-cell (PIC) codes, including implicit formulations, while also working with explicit PIC approaches. He has designed and operated a variety of ion sources, and has developed plasma diagnostics such as Langmuir probes and optical emission spectroscopy systems.
In addition, Nicolas regularly uses COMSOL Multiphysics to model electrostatics, magnetic fields, heat transfer, ion beam extraction, low-pressure flow, and RF components, integrating these tools to inform the design and optimization of ion sources and low-energy accelerator hardware.
Outside of work, Nicolas is an avid musician who plays multiple instruments across a range of styles (primarily jazz and funk) and enjoys mountain biking and skiing.
Publications
THESIS UBC
2022
Development and characterization of a Penning ion source using helium
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JOURNAL ARTICLE Radiation Measurements
2018
Characteristics of a Ce-Doped Silica Fiber Irradiated by 74 MeV Protons
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CONFERENCE PAPER
2019
Development of a Penning Ion Source Test Stand for Production of Alpha Particles
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JOURNAL ARTICLE
2021
Trapping secondary electrons in ExB drift for an alpha generating penning ion source.
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Review of Scientific Instruments
2020
A Study of the Optical Effect of Plasma Sheath in a Negative Ion Source Using IBSIMU Code
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CONFERENCE PAPER
2022
Extraction of High-charge State Argon and α-Particles from D-Pace Penning Ion Source Test Stand
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JOURNAL ARTICLE Rev. Sci. Instrum
2022
Comparison of Langmuir Probe and Optical Emission Spectroscopy on a Volume-Cusp Filament Ion Source using Helium
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CONFERENCE PAPER IPAC2023
2023
Extraction of High Charge State Neon and Krypton from the D-Pace Penning Ion Source Test Stand.
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CONFERENCE PAPER March 17-21
2024
H‾, D‾ & He++ Source Developments for Medical Isotope Production Cyclotrons
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CONFERENCE PAPER Journal of Physics: Conference Series
2024
Implicit particle-in-cell development for ion source plasmas
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CONFERENCE PAPER ICIS 2025
2025
Coulomb collisions and 𝝐𝟎 scaling in the PIC code LePIC for Ion Source Applications
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