An Optimized Design for PIGMI

Abstract

PIGMI (Pion Generator for Medical Irradiations) is a compact linear proton accelerator design, optimized for pion production and cancer treatment use in a hospital environment. Technology developed during a four-year PIGMI Prototype experimental program allows the design of smaller, less expensive, and more reliable proton linacs. A new type of low-energy accelerating structure, the radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) has been tested; it produces an exceptionally good-quality beam and allows the use of a simple 30-kV injector. Average axial electric-field gradients of over 9 MV/m have been demonstrated in a drift-tube linac (DTL) structure. Experimental work is underway to test the disk-and-washer (DAW) structure, another new type of accelerating structure for use in the high-energy coupled-cavity linac (CCL). Sufficient experimental and developmental progress has been made to closely define an actual PIGMI. It will consist of a 30-kV injector, an RFQ linac to a proton energy of 2.5 MeV, a DTL linac to 125 MeV, and a CCL linac to the final energy of 650 MeV. The total length of the accelerator is 133 meters. The RFQ and DTL will be driven by a single 440-MHz klystron; the CCL will be driven by six 1320-MHz klystrons. The peak beam current is 28 mA. The beam pulse length is 60 ps ?s at a 60-Hz repetition rate, resulting in a 100-?A average beam current. The total cost of the accelerator is estimated to be ~$10 million.