Precision Magnet Movers for the Final Focus Test Beam
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Bowden, G.↗
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WE-D-17A-04: Magnetically Focused Proton Irradiation of Small Volume Targets
Purpose: To explore the advantages of magnetic focusing for small volume proton irradiations and the potential clinical benefits for radiosurgery targets. The primary goal is to create narrow elongated proton beams of elliptical cross section with superior dose delivery characteristics compared to current delivery modalities (eg, collimated beams). In addition, more general beam shapes are also under investigation. Methods: Two prototype magnets consisting of 24 segments of samarium-cobalt (Sm2Co17) permanent magnetic material adhered into hollow cylinders were manufactured for testing. A single focusing magnet was placed on a positioning track on our Gantry 1 treatment table and 15 mm diameter proton beams with energies and modulation relevant to clinical radiosurgery applications (127 to 186 MeV, and 0 to 30 mm modulation) were delivered to a terminal water tank. Beam dose distributions were measured using a PTW diode detector and Gafchromic EBT2 film. Longitudinal and transverse dose profiles were analyzed and compared to data from Monte Carlo simulations analogous to the experimental setup. Results: The narrow elongated focused beam spots showed high elliptical symmetry indicating high magnet quality. In addition, when compared to unfocused beams, peak-to-entrance depth dose ratios were 11 to 14% larger (depending on presence or extent of modulation), and minor axis penumbras were 11 to 20% smaller (again depending on modulation) for focused beams. These results suggest that the use of rare earth magnet assemblies is practical and could improve dose-sparing of normal tissue and organs at risk while delivering enhanced dose to small proton radiosurgery targets. Conclusion: Quadrapole rare earth magnetic assemblies are a promising and inexpensive method to counteract particle out scatter that tends to degrade the peak to entrance performance of small field proton beams. Knowledge gained from current experiments will inform the design of a prototype treatment nozzle that incorporates similar focusing magnets. This project was sponsored in part by funding from the Department of Defense (DOD# W81XWH-BAA-10-1)
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
TU-H-CAMPUS-TeP1-03: Magnetically Focused Proton Irradiation of Small Volume Radiosurgery Targets
Purpose: To investigate the use of magnetic focusing for small volume proton radiosurgery targets using a triplet combination of quadrupole rare earth permanent magnet Halbach cylinder assemblies Methods: Fourteen quadrupole magnets consisting of 24 segments of radiation hard samarium-cobalt adhered into k=3 Halbach cylinders with various field gradients (100 to 250 T/m) were designed and manufactured. Triplet combinations of the magnets were placed on a positioning track on our Gantry 1 treatment table. Unmodulated 127 MeV proton beams with initial diameters of 3 to 20 mm were delivered to a water tank using single-stage scattering. Depth and transverse dose distributions were measured using a PTW PR60020 diode detector and EBT3 film, respectively. This data was compared with unfocused passively collimated beams. Monte Carlo simulations were also performed - both for comparison with experimental data and to further investigate the potential of triplet magnetic focusing. Results: Experimental results using 150 T/m gradient magnets and 15 to 20 mm initial diameter beams show peak to entrance dose ratios that are ∼ 43 to 48 % larger compared with spot size matched 8 mm collimated beams (ie, transverse profile full-widths at 90% maximum dose match within 0.5 mm of focused beams). In addition, the focusing beams were ∼ 3 to 4.4 times more efficient per MU in dose to target delivery. Additional results using different magnet combinations will also be presented. Conclusion: Our results suggest that triplet magnetic focusing could reduce entrance dose and beam number while delivering dose to small (∼≤ 10 mm diameter) radiosurgery targets in less time compared to unfocused beams. Immediate clinical applications include those associated with proton radiosurgery and functional radiosurgery of the brain and spine, however other treatment sites can be also envisioned. This project was sponsored with funding from the Department of Defense (DOD# W81XWH-BAA-10-1).
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
Self-focusing of circularly polarized laser pulse in the hot magnetized plasma in the quasi-neutral limit
In this paper the problem of self-focusing of an intense laser beam in the hot magnetized plasma is studied. Using a relativistic two-fluid model, the propagation of intense circularly polarized laser beam along the external magnetic field is considered. The nonlinear equation describing the interaction of laser beam with magnetized hot plasma in the quasi-neutral approximation is derived. Expanding the nonlinear terms of current density and saving only the parabolic nonlinear terms, we investigated the self-focusing phenomenon for right- and left-hand circularly polarized laser beam. The evolution of laser beam spot size with Gaussian profile for both polarizations is considered and the effect of the temperature and external magnetic field on the self-focusing quality is studied. It is shown that for the right-hand polarization, the effect of temperature and external magnetic field on the self-focusing property is more considerable.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Influence of the electrode gap separation on the pseudospark-sourced electron beam generation
Pseudospark-sourced electron beam is a self-focused intense electron beam which can propagate without any external focusing magnetic field. This electron beam can drive a beam-wave interaction directly or after being post-accelerated. It is especially suitable for terahertz radiation generation due to the ability of a pseudospark discharge to produce small size in the micron range and very high current density and bright electron beams. In this paper, a single-gap pseudospark discharge chamber has been built and tested with several electrode gap separations to explore the dependence of the pseudospark-sourced electron beam current on the discharge voltage and the electrode gap separation. Experimental results show that the beam pulses have similar pulse width and delay time from the distinct drop of the applied voltage for smaller electrode gap separations but longer delay time for the largest gap separation used in the experiment. It has been found that the electron beam only starts to occur when the charging voltage is above a certain value, which is defined as the starting voltage of the electron beam. The starting voltage is different for different electrode gap separations and decreases with increasing electrode gap separation in our pseudospark discharge configuration. The electron beam current increases with the increasing discharge voltage following two tendencies. Under the same discharge voltage, the configuration with the larger electrode gap separation will generate higher electron beam current. When the discharge voltage is higher than 10 kV, the beam current generated at the electrode gap separation of 17.0 mm, is much higher than that generated at smaller gap separations. The ionization of the neutral gas in the main gap is inferred to contribute more to the current increase with increasing electrode gap separation.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
A Strategic Approach to Advance Magnet Technology for Next Generation Colliders
Colliders are built on a foundation of superconducting magnet technology that provides strong dipole magnets to maintain the beam orbit and strong focusing magnets to enable the extraordinary luminosity required to probe physics at the energy frontier. The dipole magnet strength plays a critical role in dictating the energy reach of a collider, and the superconducting magnets are arguably the dominant cost driver for future collider facilities. As the community considers opportunities to explore new energy frontiers, the importance of advanced magnet technology - both in terms of magnet performance and in the magnet technology's potential for cost reduction - is evident, as the technology status is essential for informed decisions on targets for physics reach and facility feasibility.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Observation of optical transition radiation from electron beams generated by laser plasma accelerator
Laser plasma accelerators (LPAs) have made great progress, achieving electron beam with energy up to 1 GeV from a centimeter scale capillary plasma waveguide. Here in this work, we report the measurement of optical transition radiation (OTR) from the capillary-based LPA electron beams. Transition radiation images, produced by electrons passing through two separate foils (located at 2.3 m and 3.8 m away from the exit of the LPA) were recorded with a high resolution imaging system, respectively. Two magnetic quadrupole lenses were placed right after the capillary to focus and collimate the electron beams. Lastly, significant localized spikes appeared in the OTR images when the electron beam was focused by the magnetic quadrupole lenses, indicating the coherence of the radiation and the existence of ultrashort longitudinal structures inside the electron beam.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Meissner effect funneling
Focusing of a positron beam in a magnetic field funnel is demonstrated using a preferentially-cooled pure niobium single crystal into the superconductor region. A magnetic field increase of 18% was indirectly measured through a hole in a cylindrical niobium sample. The results demonstrate a charged particle beam focusing technique. The results have implications for the brightness enhancement of positron beams and trap-based beams.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Intense gamma-ray source based on focused electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator
Laser wakefield accelerators generate ultrashort electron bunches with the capability to produce γ-rays. Here, we produce focused laser wakefield acceleration electron beams using three quadrupole magnets. Electron beams are then focused into a 3 mm lead converter to generate intense, focused bremsstrahlung γ beams. Experimental results demonstrate the generation and propagation of focused γ beams to a best focus spot size of 2.3 ± 0.1 × 2.7 ± 0.2 mm 2 using a copper stack calorimeter. Monte Carlo simulations conducted using GEANT4 are in good agreement with experimental results and enable detailed examination of γ-ray generation. Simulations indicate that the focused γ beams contained 2.6 × 10 9 photons in the range of 100 keV to 33 MeV with an average energy of 6.4 MeV. A γ-ray intensity of 7 × 10 10 W/cm 2 was estimated from simulations. In conclusion, the generation of focused bremsstrahlung γ-ray sources can have important applications in medical imaging applications and laboratory astrophysics experiments.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Self-focusing and defocusing of Gaussian laser beams in collisional underdense magnetized plasmas with considering the nonlinear ohmic heating and ponderomotive force effects
The propagation characteristics of a Gaussian laser beam in collisional magnetized plasma are investigated by considering the ponderomotive and ohmic heating nonlinearities. Here, by taking into account the effect of the external magnetic field, the second order differential equation of the dimensionless beam width parameter is solved numerically. Furthermore, the nonlinear dielectric permittivity of the mentioned plasma medium in the paraxial approximation and its dependence on the propagation characteristics of the Gaussian laser pulse is obtained, and its variation in terms of the dimensionless plasma length is analyzed at different initial normalized plasma and cyclotron frequencies. The results show that the dimensionless beam width parameter is strongly affected by the initial plasma frequency, magnetic strength, and laser pulse intensity. Furthermore, it is found that there exists a certain intensity value below which the laser pulse tends to self focus, while the beam diverges above of this value. In addition, the results confirm that, by increasing the plasma and cyclotron frequencies (plasma density and magnetic strength), the self-focusing effect can occur intensively.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Design of large aperture superferric quadrupole magnets for an in-flight fragment separator
Superferric quadrupole magnets to be used for in-flight fragment separator have been designed. A quadrupole magnet triplet for beam focusing is placed in a cryostat together with superconducting correction coils. To maximize acceptance of rare isotope beams produced by projectile fragmentation, it is essential to use large-aperture quadrupole magnets. The pole tip radius is 17 cm in the current design, and we tried to enlarge the aperture with 3D analysis on magnetic fields. In the front end of the separator, where a target and beam dump are located, we plan to use two sets of quadrupole triplets made of high-Tc superconductor (HTS) operating at 20-50 K considering high radiation heat load. The HTS magnet will use warm iron poles. Both low-Tc and high-Tc superconductors are acquired for test winding, and two kinds of dewar and cryostat are under construction to perform the coil and magnet tests. The magnetic design of superferric quadrupole is mainly discussed.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
Envelope model for passive magnetic focusing of an intense proton or ion beam propagating through thin foils
Not Available
Lund, Steven M.↗
Effects of Geometric Azimuthal Asymmetries of the PPM Stack on Electron Beam Characteristics
The effects of geometric azimuthally asymmetric properties of a periodic permanent magnet (PPM) focusing stack on electron beam characteristics obtained using a fully three dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) code will be presented. The simulation model, using MAFIA (Solution of MAxwell's equations by the Finite-Integration-Algorithm), incorporates 3D behavior of the beam immersed in static fields calculated directly from the exact geometry and material properties of the 3D magnetic focusing structure. The Hughes 8916H, 18-40 GHz helical TWT for the millimeter-wave power module (MMPM) was used as a prototype. Firstly, the effects of C-magnets used at the input and output of the TWT to allow for coupling of the RF signal into and out of the tube are considered. The 8916H input and output C-magnets differ because coaxial couplers are used at the input and waveguide couplers are used at the output The repositioning of the beam from its central axis due to the inclusion of the output C-magnet was found to be most significant. The modeled output C-magnet and its orientation in the Cartesian coordinate system is shown, and a two-dimensional beam profile including the output C-magnet is also shown. A table presents the shift of the beam center off the central axis relative to the average radius of the beam at the longitudinal points A, B and C designated on an enclosed figure. Secondly, the addition of shunts, or rectangular iron pieces applied manually by a skilled technician in order to improve beam transmission, is considered. The shunts are applied to the top of the tube; thus, azimuthal symmetry of the focusing stack is interrupted. Although shunts are typically added during RF focusing, they are also typically added at the input section of the tube where RF forces are minimal, making an electron optics analysis meaningful. Because several shunts are usually applied to one pole piece, the simulations have been simplified by modeling a half washer with the same radius and longitudinal length as a shunt over the entire x, positive-y half of the transverse plane. A modeled pole piece and shunt as described are shown. Lastly, in order to study the effects of magnet misalignments, a magnet in the PPM stack was arbitrarily chosen and adjusted so that its central axis was shifted both 0.7 percent and 1.0 percent of the magnet outer diameter in the positive-y direction. In practice, positioning the magnets so that their central axis is accurately aligned with the central axis of the tube is challenging. Thus, it is a strong possibility that one or more magnets will be misaligned relative to the tube central axis.
Kory, Carol L.↗
First Test Results of the 150 mm Aperture IR Quadrupole Models for the High Luminosity LHC
The High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC at CERN will use large aperture (150 mm) quadrupole magnets to focus the beams at the interaction points. The high field in the coils requires Nb3Sn superconductor technology, which has been brought to maturity by the LHC Accelerator Re-search Program (LARP) over the last 10 years. The key design targets for the new IR quadrupoles were established in 2012, and fabrication of model magnets started in 2014. This paper discusses the results from the first single short coil test and from the first short quadrupole model test. Remaining challenges and plans to address them are also presented and discussed.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Beam Envelope Stability in an Advanced Linear Induction Accelerator
A new linear induction accelerator (LIA) is under development for multipulse flash radiography. Because it has substantially more cells than present LIAs, higher magnetic focusing fields are needed to suppress beam breakup (BBU). It is, therefore, more susceptible to the parametric beam envelope instability (PEI), which has an instability threshold that has usually been typified by the vacuum phase advance per cell exceeding some large fraction of π . Here we derive a threshold criterion for PEI that depends not only on the magnetic field, but also on the beam space charge and emittance. A tune designed to suppress BBU in Scorpius is shown to be stable to the PEI according to this criterion, and also by the lack of emittance growth in particle-in-cell (PIC) code simulations.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Improved Traveling-Wave Tube
New space traveling-wave tube (TWT) provides coherent source of 75 watts of continuous-wave power output over bandwidth of 5 GHz at frequency of 65 GHz. Coupled-cavity TWT provides 50 dB of saturated gain. Includes thermionic emitter, M-type dispenser cathode providing high-power electron beam. Beam focused by permanent magnets through center of radio-frequency cavity structure. Designed for reliable operation for 10 years, and overall efficiency of 35 percent minimizes prime power input and dissipation of heat.
Rousseau, Art↗
Communications Transceivers for Venus Surface Missions
The high temperature of the surface of Venus poses many difficulties. Previous Venus landers have only operated for short durations before succumbing to the heat. NASA Glenn Research Center conducted a study on communications for long duration Venus surface missions. I report the findings in this presentation. Current technology allows production of communications transceivers that can operate on the surface of Venus, at temperatures above 450 C and pressures of over 90 atmospheres. While these transceivers would have to be relatively simple, without much of the advanced signal processing often used in modern transceivers, since current and near future integrated circuits cannot operate at such high temperatures, the transceivers will be able to meet the requirements of proposed Venus Surface mission. The communication bands of interest are High Frequency or Very High Frequency (HFNHF) for communication between Venus surface and airborne probes (including surface to surface and air to air), and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) to Microwave bands for communication to orbiters. For HFNHF, transceivers could use existing vacuum tube technology. The packaging of the vacuum tubes may need modification, but the internal operating structure already operates at high temperatures. Using metal vacuum structures instead of glass, allows operation at high pressure. Wide bandgap transistors and diodes may be able to replace some of the thermionic components. VHF communications would be useful for line-of- sight operations, while HF would be useful for short-wave type communications using the Venusian ionosphere. UHF and microwave communications use magnetically focused thermionic devices, such as traveling wave tubes (TWTs), magnetron (M-type) amplifiers, and klystrons for high power amplifiers, and backward wave oscillators (BWOs) and reflex klystrons for oscillators. Permanent magnets are already in use in industry that can operate at 500 C. These magnets could focus electron beam tubes on the surface of Venus. While microwave windows will need to be designed for the high pressure, diamond windows have already been demonstrated, so high-pressure microwave windows can be designed and built. Thus, all of these devices could be useful for Venus surface missions. Current electronic power conditioners to supply the high voltages used in these microwave devices cannot operate at high temperatures, but earlier electronic power conditioners that used vacuum tubes can be modified to work at high temperature. Evaluating the various devices in this study, the M-type traveling wave tube (where a traveling wave structure is used in a crossed-field device, similar to the Amplitron used on the Apollo missions) stood out for the high power amplifier since it requires a single high voltage, simplifying the power supply design. Since the receiver amplifier is a low power amplifier, the loss of efficiency in linear beam devices without a depressed collector (and thus needing a single high voltage) is not important; a low noise TWT is a possible solution. Before solid-state microwave amplifiers were available, such TWTs were built with a 1-2 dB noise figure. A microwave triode or transistor made from a wide bandgap material may be preferable, if available. Much of the development work needed for Venusian communication devices will need to focus on the packaging of the devices, and their connections, but the technology is available to build transceivers that can operate on the surface of Venus indefinitely.
Force, Dale A.↗
Design of Electrostatic Aberration Correctors for Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy
Abstract In a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), producing a high-resolution image generally requires an electron beam focused to the smallest point possible. However, the magnetic lenses used to focus the beam are unavoidably imperfect, introducing aberrations that limit resolution. Modern STEMs overcome this by using hardware aberration correctors comprised of many multipole elements, but these devices are complex, expensive, and can be difficult to tune. We demonstrate a design for an electrostatic phase plate that can act as an aberration corrector. The corrector is comprised of annular segments, each of which is an independent two-terminal device that can apply a constant or ramped phase shift to a portion of the electron beam. We show the improvement in image resolution using an electrostatic corrector. Engineering criteria impose that much of the beam within the probe-forming aperture be blocked by support bars, leading to large probe tails for the corrected probe that sample the specimen beyond the central lobe. We also show how this device can be used to create other STEM beam profiles such as vortex beams and probes with a high degree of phase diversity, which improve information transfer in ptychographic reconstructions.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗