The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a study for a future accelerator that will reach unprecedented energies for electrons and their antimatter twins, positrons. It uses a novel two-beam acceleration scheme in which the electrons and positrons are propelled to high energy by an additional high current electron beam, the so-called Drive Beam.

In order to generate this high current Drive Beam, a long train of electron bunches is accelerated, parts of the train delayed in a Delay Loop and Combiner Rings, and interleaved by transversely deflecting radio-frequency cavities. The CLIC Test Facility CTF3, which is shown in the movie, examines the new technologies envisioned by the CLIC design, in particular the Drive Beam generation and the two-beam acceleration. It is a scaled-down version of the CLIC facility, and it has demonstrated the feasibility of the novel scheme.