Arthur C. Paul

A compact linac for intensity modulated proton therapy based on a dielectric wall accelerator

A novel compact CT-guided intensity modulated proton radiotherapy (IMPT) system is described. The system is being designed to deliver fast IMPT so that larger target volumes and motion management can be accomplished. The system will be ideal for large and complex target volumes in young patients. The basis of the design is the dielectric wall accelerator (DWA) system being developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The DWA uses fast switched high voltage transmission lines to generate pulsed electric fields on the inside of a high gradient insulating (HGI) acceleration tube. High electric field gradients are achieved by the use of alternating insulators and conductors and short pulse times. The system will produce individual pulses that can be varied in intensity, energy and spot width. The IMPT planning system will optimize delivery characteristics. The system will be capable of being sited in a conventional linac vault and provide intensity modulated rotational therapy. Feasibility tests of an optimization system for selecting the position, energy, intensity and spot size for a collection of spots comprising the treatment are underway. A prototype is being designed and concept designs of the envelope and environmental needs of the unit are beginning. The status of the developmental new technologies that make the compact system possible will be reviewed. These include, high gradient vacuum insulators, solid dielectric materials, SiC photoconductive switches and compact proton sources.

The Advanced Test Accelerator (ATA), a 50-MeV, 10-kA Induction Linac

The ATA is an induction accelerator designed to produce 70 ns pulses of electrons at currents of 10 kA and energies in excess of 50 MeV. The accelerator is capable of operating at an average rate of 5 Hz or at 1 kHz for ten pulses. The parameters were chosen primarily to provide the experimental basis for advancing the understanding of electron beam propagation physics. The 85 m accelerator has been under construction for the past four years and has adopted mainly an improved version of the ETA technology to satisfy the required parameters. Initial operation of the facility and the energy conversion system from primary power to axial electric field will be described; recent advances in magnetic switching which have been incorporated in the injector will also be discussed.

High gradient induction accelerator

A new type of compact induction accelerator is under development at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that promises to increase the average accelerating gradient by at least an order of magnitude over that of existing induction machines. The machine is based on the use of high gradient vacuum insulators, advanced dielectric materials and switches and is stimulated by the desire for compact flash X-ray radiography sources. Research describing an extreme variant of this technology aimed at proton therapy for cancer will be described. Progress in applying this technology to several applications will be reviewed.

Recirculating induction accelerators as drivers for heavy ion fusion

A two‐year study of recirculating induction heavy ion accelerators as low‐cost driver for inertial‐fusion energy applications was recently completed. The projected cost of a 4 MJ accelerator was estimated to be about

Multilayer High-Gradient Insulators

500 M (million) and the efficiency was estimated to be 35%. The principal technology issues include energy recovery of the ramped dipole magnets, which is achieved through use of ringing inductive/capacitive circuits, and high repetition rates of the induction cell pulsers, which is accomplished through arrays of field effect transistor (FET) switches. Principal physics issues identified include minimization of particle loss from interactions with the background gas, and more demanding emittance growth and centroid control requirements associated with the propagation of space‐charge‐dominated beams around bends and over large path lengths. In addition, instabilities such as the longitudinal resistive instability, beam‐breakup instability and betatron‐orbit instability were found to be controllable with careful design.

Measurements of reduced corkscrew motion on the ETA-II linear induction accelerator

Multilayer high-gradient insulators are vacuum insulating structures composed of thin, alternating layers of dielectric and metal. They are currently being developed for application to high-current accelerators and related pulsed power systems. This paper describes some of the high-gradient insulator research currently being conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The ETA-II induction linac as a high-average-power FEL driver

The ETA-II linear induction accelerator is used to drive a microwave free-electron laser (FEL). Corkscrew motion, which previously limited performance, has been reduced by: (1) an improved pulse distribution system which reduces energy sweep, (2) improved magnetic alignment achieved with a stretched wire alignment technique (SWAT), and (3) a unique magnetic tuning algorithm. Experiments have been carried out on a 20-cell version of ETA-II operating at 1500 A and 2.7 MeV. The measured transverse beam motion is less than 0.5 mm for 40 ns of the pulse, an improvement of a factor of 2 to 3 over previous results. Details of the computerized tuning procedure, estimates of the corkscrew phase, and relevance of these results to future FEL experiments are presented.<<ETX>>

Beam Dynamics in the ETA and ATA 10 kA Linear Induction Accelerators: Observations and Issues

The Experimental Test Accelerator II (ETA-II) is the first induction linac designed specifically to FEL requirements. It is primarily intended to demonstrate induction accelerator technology for high-average-power, high-brightness electron beams, and will be used to drive a 140 and 250 GHz microwave FEL for plasma heating experiments in the Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) at LLNL. Its features include high-vacuum design which allows the use of an intrinsically bright dispenser cathode, induction cells designed to minimize BBU growth rate, and careful attention to magnetic alignment to minimize radial sweep due to beam corkscrew. The use of magnetic switches allows high-average-power operation. At present ETA-II is being used to drive 140 GHz plasma heating experiments. These experiments require nominal beam parameters of 6 MeV energy, 2 kA current, 20 ns pulse width and a brightness of 1 × 108 A/(m rad)2 at the wiggler with a pulse repetition frequency (prf) of 0.5 Hz. Future 250 GHz experiments require beam parameters of 10 MeV energy, 3 kA current, 50 ns pulse width and a brightness of 1 × 108 A/(m rad)2 with a 5 kHz prf for 0.5 s. In this paper we discuss the present status of ETA-II parameters and the phased development program necessary to satisfy these future requirements.

The beamline for the second axis of the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility

The 10 kA ETA and ATA linear induction accelerators are described. Beam instability is the major concern in these high current machines, and the current status of theoretical understanding, and experimental investigations with the 8 cavity ETA, are reviewed. Modifications to the induction cavities are described that have essentially eliminated the transverse resonant modes seen in the ETA.

Compact proton accelerator for cancer therapy

During normal DARHT II operation, the beam exiting the accelerator will be well characterized by its nominal design parameters of 20-MeV, 2000-Amperes, 2-/spl mu/sec-pulse length, and 3 cm-mr unnormalized emittance. Normal operation will have the beam delivered to a beam dump via several DC magnets. A 2-way kicker magnet is used to deflect portions of the beam into the straight ahead beamline leading to either a diagnostic beamline or to the converter target beamline. During start up and or beam development periods, the beam exiting the accelerator may have parameters outside the acceptable range of values for normal operation. The Enge beamline must accommodate this range of unacceptable beam parameters, delivering the entire 80 KiloJoule of beam to the dump even though the energy, emittance, and/or match is outside the nominal design range.