Having matured over a few decades, the IACT technique is now ready to widen its energy domain as well as to increase sensitivity in its core region (0.1-50 TeV) by as much as one order of magnitude as compared to existing facilities. This will allow to use γ astronomy to search for dark matter, probe intergalactic space and quantum gravity as well as to make efficient observations of extended sources. The design of a new-generation IACT array is motivated by the key science questions to be

more »

... ssed and constrained by the cost of the experiment. A number of performance characteristics impact the scientific capabilities, not just point-source sensitivity, but also field-of-view, angular resolution, energy threshold and others, and the optimization of the parameters at fixed cost defines the approach to simulation studies. In this paper, I will highlight IACT array design studies carried through to optimize the array configuration, optical and mechanical designs as well as possible designs for telescope cameras. 1 Cherenkov Telescope Array, http://www.cta-observatory.org Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Extraterrestrische Forschung e.V.