Automation of 14.5 GHz ECR Ion Source and Injection Line Distributed Vacuum System for Room Temperature Cyclotron

Abstract

As a part of heavy ion acceleration program using K-130 cyclotron, the 14.5 GHz ECR ion source and an injection line is commissioned recently in Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre Kolkata. The ECR ion source and the beam transport system have been developed indigenously. The 14.5 GHz ECR ion source produces multiple charged heavy ions which are transported from ECR source to cyclotron beam chamber through the injection line. The ECR source along with the injection line uses four turbo pumping modules, one cryo module and three line valves to achieve vacuum of the order of 1× 10−7 mbar or better for ion beam transportation. The operation of the entire distributed vacuum system is controlled by an Arduino based distributed system designed and developed for facilitating systematic start up and shutdown of the entire vacuum system with a single button operation from the PC. Main interlocks are given to the operation of Isolation gate valve between the beam chamber and vertical injection line and with the operation of Inflector Power supply. These interlocks are designed according to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) safety norms for the Cyclotron and save the system from irrelevant manual operation along with any other unanticipated failure. A single supervisory program interfaces with the user by running a webserver program and communicates over existing control LAN of the ECR ion source.