A Particle-in-cell scheme of the RFQ in the SSC-Linac

A 52 MHz Radio Frequency Quadrupole(RFQ)linear accelerator(linac)is designed to serve as an initial structure for the SSC-Linac system(injector into Separated Sector Cyclotron).The designed injection and output energy are 3.5 keV/u and 143 keV/u,respectively.The beam dynamics in this RFQ have been studied using a three-dimensional Particle-In-Cell(PIC)code BEAMPATH.Simulation results show that this RFQ structure is characterized by stable values of beam transmission efficiency(at least 95%)for both zerocurrent mode and the space charge dominated regime.The beam accelerated in the RFQ has good quality in both transverse and longitudinal directions,and could easily be accepted by Drift Tube Linac(DTL).The effect of the vane error and that of the space charge on the beam parameters have been studied as well to define the engineering tolerance for RFQ vane machining and alignment.     

A particle-in-cell mode beam dynamics simulation of medium energy beam transport for the SSC-Linac

A new linear accelerator system, called the SSC-Linac injector, is being designed at HIRFL (the heavy ion research facility of Lanzhou). As part of the SSC-Linac, the medium energy beam transport (MEBT) consists of seven magnetic quadrupoles, a re-buncher and a diagnose box. The total length of this segment is about 1.75 m. The beam dynamics simulation in MEBT has been studied using the TRACK 3D particle-in-cell code, and the simulation result shows that the beam accelerated from the radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) matches well with the acceptance of the following drift tube linac (DTL) in both the transverse and longitudinal phase spaces, and that most of the particles can be captured by the final sector focusing cyclotron for further acceleration. The longitudinal emittance of the RFQ and the longitudinal acceptance of the DTL was calculated in detail, and a multi-particle beam dynamics simulation from the ion source to the end of the DTL was done to verify the original design.     

The design of a radio frequency quadrupole LINAC for the RIB project at VECC Kolkata

A radio frequency quadrupole LINAC has been designed for the VECC-RIB project for an input beam energy of 1.0 keV/u and q/A≥1/16. The output energy will be about 90 keV/u for a 3.4 m long, 35 MHz structure. A half-scale cold model of the RFQ has been fabricated and tested for rf structure design study. The beam dynamics and rf-structure design along with the results of the cold model tests will be presented.     

CSR-LINAC IH-RFQ的高频电磁设计

中国科学院近代物理研究所在CSR-LINAC项目中设计了一台108.48 MHz的IH型RFQ直线加速器。该RFQ可以将质荷比为3~7的离子从4 keV/u加速到300 keV/u。在完成束流动力学设计的基础上,主要针对RFQ腔体的高频电磁设计展开了研究,同时利用了电磁场仿真和束流动力学模拟来研究腔体的四极场不平整度和二极场及其动力学影响。未经调谐的情况下,腔体的谐振频率为108.15 MHz,腔体空载品质因子Q₀为5 910,腔体功耗为123 kW。通过在支撑板两端增加底切的设计,将腔体的四极场不平整度由-21%~ 12%优化至±2.5%,满足了束流动力学要求。腔体的二极场为-3%~ -2.2%,使得束流在垂直方向小幅振荡,RFQ的垂直方向接受度减小5%。为了保证功率馈入时反射较小,将耦合器设置在临界耦合状态,耦合面积为940 mm2。为了补偿腔体的频率偏差和漂移,设计了调谐量分别为707和132 kHz的固定调谐器和可动调谐器。The 108.48 MHz IH type RFQ for CSR-LINAC project is under design at Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This RFQ can accelerate heavy ions with mass to charge ratio of 3~7 from 4 keV/u to 300 keV/u. According to the beam dynamics requirement, the RF structure design has been finished. The quadrupole field unflatness and dipole field of the cavity were studied by electromagnetic simulation and beam dynamics simulation. The frequency of the cavity without tuning is 108.15 MHz, the Q₀ of the cavity is 5910, and the RF power loss is 123 kW. The quadrupole field unflatness of ±2.5%,which was -21%~12% before optimizing, is achieved to meet dynamics requirement through the undercuts in cavity supporters. The dipole field of -3%~ -2.2% causes the oscillation of the beam center and acceptance reduction of 5%. The power coupler must be in critical coupling state with the coupling area of 940 mm2 for minimum reflection coefficient. The tuners, consist of coarse and fine tuners with frequency shift of 707 and 132 kHz respectively, is used for tuning of frequency deviation of the cavity.     

Beam dynamics and RF design of trapezoidal IH-RFQ with low energy spread

Beam dynamics and RF design have been performed of a new type trapezoidal IH-RFQ operating at 104 MHz for acceleration of ¹⁴C⁺ in the framework of RFQ based ¹⁴C AMS facility at Peking University. Low energy spread RFQ beam dynamics design was approached by the method of internal discrete bunching. ¹⁴C⁺ will be accelerated from 40 keV to 500 keV with the length of about 1.1 m. The designed transmission efficiency is better than 95% and the energy spread is as low as 0.6%. Combining the beam dynamics design, a trapezoidal IH-RFQ structure was proposed, which can be cooled more easily and has better mechanical performance than traditional RFQ. Electromagnetic field distribution was simulated by using CST Microwave Studio (MWS). The specific shunt impedance and the quality factor were optimized primarily.     

Beam dynamics and RF design of trapezoidal IH-RFQ with low energy spread

Beam dynamics and RF design have been performed of a new type trapezoidal IH-RFQ operating at 104 MHz for acceleration of 14C+ in the framework of RFQ based 14C AMS facility at Peking University. Low energy spread RFQ beam dynamics design was approached by the method of internal discrete bunching. 14C+ will be accelerated from 40 keV to 500 keV with the length of about 1.1 m. The designed transmission efficiency is better than 95% and the energy spread is as low as 0.6%. Combining the beam dynamics design, a trapezoidal IH-RFQ structure was proposed, which can be cooled more easily and has better mechanical performance than traditional RFQ. Electromagnetic field distribution was simulated by using CST Microwave Studio (MWS). The specific shunt impedance and the quality factor were optimized primarily.     

MAFF — The Munich accelerator for fission fragments

At the new high flux reactor FRM-II in Munich the accelerator MAFF (Munich accelerator for fission fragments) is under design. In the high neutron flux of 10¹⁴ n/cm² s up to 10¹⁴ neutron-rich fission fragments per second are produced in the 1 g U-235 target. Ions with an energy of 30 keV are extracted from the ion source. In the mass separator two isotopes can be selected. One of the beams is used for low energy experiments, the other one is injected into an ECRIS (or EBIS) for charge breeding to a q/A≥0.16. A gas filled RFQ cooler is used for emittance improvement. The subsequent LINAC delivers beams with an energy ranging from 3.7 MeV/u to 5.9 MeV/u. New IH structures are being developed at the Munich tandem laboratory. A small storage ring is planned in a further stage to recycle the fission fragments. A thin target foil can be placed into this ring, e.g., for synthesis of super-heavy elements. The through-going beam tube has been installed in the heavy water tank of the reactor. Tests of the target ion source in a special oven to test long term stability and safety tests were in progress.     

Progress in the beam commissioning of separated function RFQ accelerator

Separated Function RFQ (SFRFQ) was proposed as a post accelerator of RFQ to accelerate heavy ions at low frequency. It introduces gap accelerating in the quadrupole electrodes, and therefore it has higher accelerating efficiency than the conventional RFQ accelerator. The first SFRFQ prototype cavity has been specially designed and constructed as a post accelerator to accelerate O+ beam from 1.03 MeV to 1.64 MeV. Based on accomplishment of low power measurement and high power test, the beam commissioning was carried out to verify its feasibility. The measured energy gain per cell of SFRFQ is 45 keV, which is about 60% higher than that of Peking University Integral Split Ring (ISR) RFQ.     

Design of the low energy beam transport line for the China spallation neutron source

The design of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) low-energy beam transport (LEBT) line, which locates between the ion source and the radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), has been completed with the TRACE3D code. The design aims at perfect matching, primary chopping, a small emittance growth and sufficient space for beam diagnostics. The line consists of three solenoids, three vacuum chambers, two steering magnets and a pre-chopper. The total length of LEBT is about 1.74 m. This LEBT is designed to transfer 20 mA of H-pulsed beam from the ion source to the RFQ. An induction cavity is adopted as the pre-chopper.The electrostatic octupole steerer is discussed as a candidate. A four-quadrant aperture for beam scraping and beam position monitoring is designed.     

Variations in bonding of iron in porous ferrisilicates

The ISAC post accelerator comprises an RFQ, DTL and SC-linac. The high energy beam lines connect the linear accelerators as well as deliver the accelerated beams to two different experimental areas. The medium energy beam transport (MEBT) line connects the RFQ to the DTL. The high energy beam transport (HEBT) line connects the DTL to the ISAC-I experimental stations (DRAGON, TUDA-I, GPS). The DTL to superconducting beam (DSB) transport line connects the ISAC-I and ISAC-II linacs. The superconducting energy beam transport (SEBT) line connects the SC linac to the ISAC-II experimental station (TUDA-II, HERACLES, TIGRESS, EMMA and GPS). All these lines have the function of transporting and matching the beams to the downstream sections by manipulating the transverse and longitudinal phase space. They also contain diagnostic devices to measure the beam properties.     

Design study of a radio-frequency quadrupole for high-intensity beams

The Rare isotope Accelerator Of Newness(RAON) heavy-ion accelerator has been designed for the Rare Isotope Science Project(RISP) in Korea. The RAON will produce heavy-ion beams from 660-MeV-proton to200-MeV/u-uranium with continuous wave(CW) power of 400 k W to support research in various scientific fields.Its system consists of an ECR ion source, LEBTs with 10 ke V/u, CW RFQ accelerator with 81.25 MHz and 500 ke V/u, a MEBT system, and a SC linac. In detail, the driver linac system consists of a Quarter Wave Resonator(QWR) section with 81.25 MHz and a Half Wave Resonator(HWR) section with 162.5 MHz, Linac-1, and a Spoke Cavity section with 325 MHz, Linac-2. These linacs have been designed to optimize the beam parameters to meet the required design goals. At the same time, a light-heavy ion accelerator with high-intensity beam, such as proton,deuteron, and helium beams, is required for experiments. In this paper, we present the design study of the high intensity RFQ for a deuteron beam with energies from 30 ke V/u to 1.5 MeV/u and currents in the m A range. This system is composed of an Penning Ionization Gauge ion source, short LEBT with a RF deflector, and shared SC Linac. In order to increase acceleration efficiency in a short length with low cost, the 2nd harmonic of 162.5 MHz is applied as the operation frequency in the D~+RFQ design. The D~+RFQ is designed with 4.97 m, 1.52 bravery factor. Since it operates with 2nd harmonic frequency, the beam should be 50% of the duty factor while the cavity should be operated in CW mode, to protect the downstream linac system. We focus on avoiding emittance growth by the space-charge effect and optimizing the RFQ to achieve a high transmission and low emittance growth. Both the RFQ beam dynamics study and RFQ cavity design study for two and three dimensions will be discussed.     

Status of the EBIT in the ReA3 reaccelerator at NSCL

At the NSCL a reaccelerator with design end energy of 3 MeV/u for ²³⁸U, called ReA3, is approaching the end of construction. ReA3 will be coupled to a gas stopper at the NSCL fragmentation facility to provide rare-isotope beams of nuclides not available at ISOL facilities in this energy range. An Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) will be used to provide highly charged ions at an energy of about 12 keV/u. The charge breeder is followed by a room-temperature radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ) and a series of superconducting linear accelerator structures. Initial commissioning results from the EBIT and its charge-over-mass separator are presented.     

The ISAC post-accelerator

The acceleration chain of the ISAC facility boosts the energy of both radioactive and stable light and heavy ions for beam delivery to both a medium energy area in ISAC-I and a high energy area in ISAC-II. The post-accelerator comprises a 35.4 MHz RFQ to accelerate beams of A/q ≤ 30 from 2 keV/u to 150 keV/u and a post stripper, 106.1 MHz variable energy drift tube linac (DTL) to accelerate ions of A/q ≤ 6 to a final energy between 0.15 MeV/u to 1.5 MeV/u. A 40 MV superconducting linac further accelerates beam from 1.5 MeV/u to energies above the Coulomb barrier. All linacs operate cw to preserve beam intensity.     

CARIBU: a new facility for the study of neutron-rich isotopes

The Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) to the ATLAS superconducting linac facility is currently being commissioned. It provides low-energy and re-accelerated beams of neutron-rich isotopes obtained from ²⁵²Cf fission. The fission products from a ²⁵²Cf source are stopped in a large high-intensity gas catcher, thermalized and extracted through an RFQ cooler, accelerated to 50 kV and mass separated in a high-resolution separator before being sent to either an ECR charge breeder for post-acceleration through the ATLAS linac or to a low-energy experimental area. This approach gives access to beams of very neutron-rich isotopes, many of which have not been available at low or Coulomb barrier energies previously. These beams provide unique opportunities for measurements along the r-process path. To take advantage of these unique possibility, the reaccelerated beams from CARIBU will be made available at the experimental stations of ATLAS to serve equipment such as Gammasphere, HELIOS and the reaction spectrometers. In addition, the Canadian Penning Trap (CPT) mass spectrometer has been moved to the CARIBU low-energy experimental area and a new injection line has been built. The new injection line consists of a RFQ buncher sitting on a 50 kV high-voltage platform that will accumulate the mass separated 50 kV radioactive beams, cool and extract them as a pulsed beam of 3 keV. This beam can be sent either to a tape station for diagnostics and tuning, or a cryogenic linear trap for preparation before transfer to the high-precision Penning trap where the mass measurements will take place. Initial CARIBU commissioning is proceeding with a 2 mCi source that will be replaced by a 100 mCi source as the commissioning proceeds. Final operation will use a 1 Ci source and attain yield in excess of 10⁷ ions/sec for the most intense beams at low energy, an order of magnitude less for reaccelerated beams.     

Physics design of a CW high-power proton Linac for accelerator-driven system

Accelerator-driven systems (ADS) have evoked lot of interest the world over because of their capability to incinerate the MA (minor actinides) and LLFP (long-lived fission products) radiotoxic waste and their ability to utilize thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel. One of the main subsystems of ADS is a high energy (∼1 GeV) and high current (∼30 mA) CW proton Linac. The accelerator for ADS should have high efficiency and reliability and very low beam losses to allow hands-on maintenance. With these criteria, the beam dynamics simulations for a 1 GeV, 30 mA proton Linac has been done. The Linac consists of normal-conducting radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), drift tube linac (DTL) and coupled cavity drift tube Linac (CCDTL) structures that accelerate the beam to about 100 MeV followed by superconducting (SC) elliptical cavities, which accelerate the beam from 100 MeV to 1 GeV. The details of the design are presented in this paper.     

Accelerator development in India for ADS programme

At BARC, development of a Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA), as front-end injector of the 1 GeV accelerator for the ADS programme, has been initiated. The major components of LEHIPA (20 MeV, 30 mA) are a 50 keV ECR ion source, a 3 MeV Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) and a 20 meV drift tube linac (DTL). The Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT) and Medium Energy Beam Transport (MEBT) lines match the beam from the ion source to RFQ and from RFQ to DTL respectively. Design of these systems has been completed and fabrication of their prototypes has started. Physics studies of the 20–1000 MeV part of the Linac are also in progress. In this paper, the present status of this project is presented.      

强流质子加速器束流剖面分布及束晕测量系统设计

 针对一台用于加速器驱动洁净核能源系统研究、高占空比的强流质子加速器,开展强流质子直线加速器束晕产生的研究工作,其中的束流剖面分布特别是束晕部分测量的束流诊断系统是研究工作的核心内容。束晕的产生在低能量段尤其重要,且对整个直线加速器的设计有重要影响。介绍了研究束晕增长的束流输运线和测量系统的布局设计,并根据所研究的加速器束流的情况进行束流剖面探测器和束晕测量的设计和预研,包括丝靶材料的模拟计算和选择、机械驱动的控制系统设计和研究、前端模拟电路的设计和仿真模拟、以及整个系统与EPICS和VxWorks的计算机控制接口等。     

High-resolution diode-laser spectroscopy on a fast beam of metastable atoms for detecting very rare krypton isotopes

A fast krypton ion beam with an energy of 10 keV is transferred through a mass filter and neutralized in a Rb- (or Cs-) vapour charge exchange cell. The emerging beam of metastable Kr atoms of a selected Kr isotope is collinearly irradiated with a tunable cw GaAlAs diode laser at 811 nm. The spectrum of the 1s ₅–2p ₉ transition covers 10 GHz and consists of one line each for the five stable isotopes of Kr with even mass number and 15 hyperfine structure lines of⁸³Kr. The individual lines are recorded by detecting the fluorescence signal perpendicular to the beams. Photons are guided to the PM tube by diffuse reflection from a high reflectance thermoplastics light collector. Up to 20 photons per atom are emitted by cycling between the two states during the flight time of 1.2 µs through the detector. The observed absorption linewidth of 100 MHz is a combination of laser linewidth and energy uncertainty in the fast atomic beam. In order to achieve maximum isotope selectivity the beam energy has to be adjusted in such a way that the Doppler shifted lines of all isotopes form an optimum pattern for detecting the very rare isotopes⁸¹Kr and⁸⁵Kr in natural environmental samples.     

RF and field measurements of the SSC-LINAC RFQ

The 53.667 MHz continuous-wave heavy ion RFQ has been designed and manufactured for the SSC-LINAC project.This four-rod RFQ accelerates ions with maximum mass to charge ratio of 7 from 3.728 keV/u to 143 keV/u.Measurements have been carried out to check the RF performance of the cavity and the quality of the electric field.The S11 of the power coupler is adjusted to better than-44 dB,and the Q0 of the cavity is 6440.The quality of the electric field is evaluated by the perturbation method.The measurement procedure and data analysis will be discussed in detail.The error due to gravity of the perturbation bead has been corrected by averaging the fields in different quadrants.As a result,the unflatness of the electric field is±2.5%,and the dipole field component distributes from 0%to 20%in different longitudinal positions,which indicates the asymmetry of the quadrupole field.The unflatness of the quadrupole field distribution represents a good agreement with the simulation results.High power RF test and beam commissioning of the RFQ are on schedule in early 2014.