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DOE OSTI2025

LAMP Technical Readiness Evaluation Report

An internal preliminary evaluation of Critical Technology Elements (CTEs) for the LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP) was completed in 2023. This included determining corresponding Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs) for all subsystems using the criteria of DOE G 413.3-4A, Technical Readiness Assessment Guide. This revised report includes a summary of the recent design modifications required to meet the project Key Performance Requirements (KPPs), some of which may reduce technical risk to the project. These recent design modifications include: • Further optimization of the low-energy and medium-energy beam transport regions (LEBT and MEBT, respectively), including relocation of various functional elements (ie choppers, kickers, and bunchers). • An additional H - ion source to separate ion-source function based on beam delivery requirements. • A high-repetition-rate pulsed kicker magnet to select/merge the two H ion beams into a common low-energy beam transport. • Modification and further optimization to a more conventional RFQ design. Performance of the RFQ has been optimized to deliver the required three types of beams while meeting the project KPPs. • The addition of a second chopper in the medium-energy beam transport (MEBT) line to reduce the required pulser voltages. The scope of the evaluation was limited to the project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements as defined for the RFQ Injector and Drift Tube Linac (DTL) systems only. Integration of Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) and Safety Systems was not considered, although specific technologies as related to the RFQ and DTL systems were included. Other elements of the project such as Shielding, System Design, Technical Management, and additional facility integration needed to enable off-line testing and pre-installation commissioning were also not evaluated. Each technical subsystem element was evaluated for technical readiness, however, not all were found to meet the criteria for a CTE. Three subsystem elements were determined to meet the CTE criteria. Their associated TRLs are summarized in the table below. These subsystem elements of the project have the lowest technical readiness due to either being new, novel or modified, requiring additional R&D before being capable of meeting the project Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) and subsystem requirements, or present technology exists but has not yet been demonstrated in a relevant environment. All other subsystems were determined to have a TRL of 8, indicating that actual operating systems exist having similar performance requirements as needed for LAMP. Details of the technical readiness evaluation for each subsystem is given in the following sections of this report.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Preliminary Look at the LBEG & MPEG Beam Transmissions between HPSim and Operation Data

This report summarizes recent work on estimating the transmission of LANSCE H- beams from the end of the present DTL to both the PSR stripper foil (LBEG) and WNR target 4 (MPEG). The LBEG beam might be considered a more typical LINAC beam and lends itself to continuous monitoring of transmission through the various stages of the accelerator. For the MPEG, however, the widely-spaced micropulses and lack of the requisite sensitivity current monitors throughout the accelerator make these measurements extremely difficult and more uncertain. Therefore, to assist in estimating the MPEG beam transmission, beam-dynamics simulations using HPSim were employed. These beam transmission estimates from the end of the Drift Tube Linac (DTL) to Target 4 (MPEG) and the PSR stripper foil (LBEG) are vital to determine the charge requirements for LAMP’s front end. In this technote, we demonstrate three major efforts in determining the transmission: (1) Convert the WNR beamline lattice from TRANSPORT to HPSim for use in the simulation; (2) Simulate the optimization process in the Central Control Room (CCR) that brings down the losses by up to a factor of 4000 between the end of the initial physics-based tuneup phase and production beam operation; (3) Analyze operational data to deduce measured transmissions. Table 1 shows the estimated losses with HPSim and operational analysis. Finally, a better measurement and other improvements to refine the results are also proposed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

LEBT Buncher / Feed Forward / Frequency Generation: System Design Document (SDD)

The LAMP Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT) transfers a continuous beam at 100 keV from the ion source to RFQ in LEBT. A LEBT buncher imposes an energy tilt to initiate velocy bunching in the chopped beam pulse about 25 ns long to form a short MPEG bunch. One possible option for the LEBT buncher based on a two-gap LC-circuit driven structure was considered, which is similar to the existing LANSCE low-frequncy buncher (LFB). Another possible option is a non-resonant element driven by a pulse-forming-network that provides a single pulse at the repetition frequency of MPEG beam, with a period of 1.8 µs. The LEBT operation is synchronized with the accelerator timing system.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Post-DTL Beam Delivery

Ensuring that the beam delivered from the upgraded Front-End (FE) meets the Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) at each user facility is critical to the success of the LANSCE Accelerator Modernization Project (LAMP). For a high-intensity, multi-user facility like LANSCE, compliance with beam loss and radiation thresholds is as important as the charge delivered to each target. While early LAMPF/LANSCE operations relied on iterative tuning to minimize losses from beam halo and tail particles, the new FE may introduce different beam distributions and loss modes—making predictive modeling essential. To manage this, the F2E (Front-End to End) effort is developing detailed particle-tracking models that reflect realistic beamline conditions, including halo formation and expected diagnostic readings. These "snapshot" simulations aim to benchmark live machine performance at a given moment. This will help quantify how beam quality from the new FE will propagate downstream through the facility. Only by validating these models can we confidently assess and mitigate the potential impacts of the LAMP FE on beam delivery. Post-DTL, the beam splits to serve five major user facilities. Historically, low-energy beam transport has been modeled using TRACE, and higher-energy sections with TRANSPORT. These have now been unified into MAD-X format and validated with codes such as Elegant, pyOrbit, XSuite, Impact-Z, and HPSim. The primary focus now is on accurate modeling of full particle distributions (including beam halo) as they traverse the accelerator and beamlines to each experimental station. All models are at various stages of validation with empirical data.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Innovative approaches to neutron beam optimization: A case study of FP14 at LANSCE

This paper describes an experimental method to acquire high resolution energy- and spatially- resolved neutron beam spots using the time-gated neutron imaging system with Teledyne Pi-MAX4 camera. These experimental data offer a unique opportunity for benchmarking beam spot simulations. High-quality simulations depend significantly on a high-fidelity geometry model, which can be challenging for legacy facilities. We informed our MCNPX geometry model by latest metrology survey employing Leica laser tracker ATS600. It gave us a high fidelity description of our facility geometry. Such a robust integration of novel tools and methods yields a previously unattainable level of accuracy in both predicting and capturing neutron beam spots, marking a notable advancement over traditional methods reliant on static image plates. Here, to demonstrate the practical application of these tools, we are showing a non-uniform beam spot challenge at our Flight Path 14 (FP14) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). Our precise MCNPX prediction of beam spot shifting as function of neutron energy was confirmed by experimental beam spot measured with extremely high level of detail. Results of this research demonstrate a significant leap in neutron beam optimization at LANSCE and set a new benchmark in beam spot characterization. The advanced methods presented here have potential for adoption at similar research facilities worldwide, aiming at substantial improvement in neutron beam delivery for experiments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

LAMP RFQ vane tip macro-based 3D modeling

This report covers the workflow and the demonstration of modeling the radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ) vane tip geometry in 3D, for the Front End Upgrade of the LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP). The goal is to develop an automated procedure to generate the 3D model of the LAMP RFQ vane tip geometry, so as to eliminate the need to manually enter the design parameters for each RFQ cell, when building the 3D model. With the developed procedure, the LAMP RFQ design optimization work can be significantly more efficient.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Start-to-end simulation for LAMP front-end scoping studies

We present a design of a new front end in support of the LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP). This is an updated front-end design that can largely meet LAMP threshold needs. The first half of this report details each section of the front end, including a summary of the physics design and function. The second half simulates several beam formats from the initial source all the way through the final DTL section (i.e. start-to-end simulations). Details and assumptions are described. The following table summarizes the key results for the different beam formats from this study.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Write-up on the analytical formalism for DTL Synchrotron and Betatron frequencies estimates

Appendix A contains tables of the DTL tanks geometry, generated using PARMILA code with input parameters of initial and final energy, accelerating gradient, synchronouse phase, and using DTLfish code (part of the SUPERFISH/POISSON package of codes). Details of the design and generation od the DTL geometry will be presented in a separate report. After generation of the DTL geometry and initial beam dynamics simulations, the analytic estimates of the synchrotron and betatron oscillations, as well as presence of the parametric resonance of first order were done. In present report the analytic background of those estimates, as well as the results of these are presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modelling Beam Loss Within the LANSCE Proton Storage Ring

Several upgrades are being considered for the proton storage ring (PSR) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) to reduce beam loss and thereby reduce the cooldown period of the PSR following a beam run. First, we have considered an increased beam pipe diameter would reduce beam loss due to beam scraping caused by misalignments and tuning errors. However, this would require increased pole-to-pole gap height within the dipoles and quadrupoles, which would change their effective length and alter their fringe fields. The effect of different magnet gaps on the beam optical parameters and on beam loss was studied using the simulation codes MAD-X and PyORBIT. Second, we are developing a detailed particle tracking model within the framework of the simulation package General Particle Tracer (GPT) for the PSR H - stripping system. This model will be used to study the effect of the stripper foil parameters (position, composition, areal density, depth, etc.) on first-turn losses, where most of the observed beam loss and emittance growth occurs due to foil scattering, foil stripping, and Lorentz stripping. The model implements C++ custom elements created to model foil scattering, foil stripping, and Lorentz stripping, as these are not built-in features of GPT. The preliminary results of the MAD-X and PyORBIT simulations, as well as the GPT simulation model, is described in this tech note.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Reconstruction of the 4D beam matrix

The widely used transverse parameters characterizing particle beams are the Twiss parameters. These parameters can be measured experimentally but they do not fully characterize the beam since they do not account for possible correlations in particle distribution between two transverse coordinates. These correlations may occur due to uncompensated magnetic field at the cathode or misalignment of focusing quadrupoles in the transport beamline. We test a novel diagnostic for diagnosing full 4D beam matrix which may be used to identify such imperfections. The diagnostic is based on transporting the beam through the beamline which includes a quadrupole and a skew quadrupole magnets and measuring the resulting 2D beam distribution at the screen downstream. Such a measurement can be viewed as measuring a 2D projection of the 4D distribution. Different settings of the quads provide measurements of different slices of the phase space. The reconstruction of the original beam matrix from a number of measurements is done using machine learning algorithm, which provides a fast and reliable way of reconstruction for an arbitrary configuration of the scanning beamline. In August 2024, we set up the diagnostic beamline to perform a quadrupole scan of the beam. The setup includes a skew quadrupole, a regular quadrupole, and a screen. The images on the screen were post-processed to remove experimental artifacts and enhance contrast by eliminating background noise outside the core of the distribution=. The rms parameters of the distribution were then calculated and used as inputs for the reconstruction algorithm. This algorithm attempts to determine the initial beam matrix that produces expected images on the screen closely matching the observed images across all quadrupole settings. The algorithm found a solution in which the expected rms parameters closely align with the observations. Validation of the results is planned for FY25.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗