Accelerator Structure Research Articles

Geometry-aware metropolis light transport

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) rendering utilizes a sequence of correlated path samples which is obtained by iteratively mutating the current state to the next. The efficiency of MCMC rendering depends on how well the mutation strategy is designed to adapt to the local structure of the state space. We present a novel MCMC rendering method that automatically adapts the step sizes of the mutations to the geometry of the rendered scene. Our geometry-aware path space perturbation largely avoids tentative samples with zero contribution due to occlusion. Our method limits the mutation step size by estimating the maximum opening angle of a cone, centered around a segment of a light transport path, where no geometry obstructs visibility. This geometry-aware mutation increases the acceptance rates, while not degrading the sampling quality. As this cone estimation introduces a considerable overhead if done naively, to make our approach efficient, we discuss and analyze fast approximate methods for cone angle estimation which utilize the acceleration structure already present for the ray-geometry intersection. Our new approach, integrated into the framework of Metropolis light transport, can achieve results with lower error and less artifact in equal time compared to current path space mutation techniques.

Evolutionary Integro-Differential Equation Solution of Self-Consistent Beam Dynamics in Dielectric-Filled Wakefield Accelerating Structure

Self-coordinated transverse dynamics of the high current relativistic electronic bunches used for generation of wake fields in accelerating structures with dielectric filling is investigated. The Laplace transform method is used to find the analytical solution of the problem of self-consistent beam dynamics.

RF System of Linear Accelerator for Natural Rubber Research

The natural rubber research is ongoing project at the Plasma and Beam Physics Research Facility, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The project aims to use electron beam irradiation for high quality vulcanization process for natural rubber. The main accelerator system consists of a DC thermionic electron gun, 5-cell linear accelerator structure, control system, RF system and electron beam irradiation system. This accelerator system aims to generate adjustable electron beam energy range from 0.5 to 4.0 MeV with pulse current of 10 – 100 mA and pulse repetition rate of 20 – 200 Hz. The 4 MeV electron beam with current of 100 mA produced at pulse repetition rate of 200Hz is expected to achieve the maximum absorbed dose of 320 Gy. The control system is designed and built in-house to fit the accelerator system requirement. The RF system consists of Pulse Forming Network (PFN), trigger board and thyratron switch, pulse transformer and pulse magnetron. This RF system can achieve RF power of 0.9 to 2.0 MW with pulse width of 4 μs. The pulse repetition rate can be varied from 20 to 200 Hz to control RF average power. The performance of RF system as well as the results of RF commissioning will be present and discussed.

Electron beam dynamics in the 3D magnetic field of alpha magnet at the PBP-CMU Electron Linac Laboratory

The electron injector system for a future mid-infrared free-electron laser (MIR FEL) and coherent terahertz (THz) radiation source at the Plasma and Beam Physics (PBP) Research Facility of Chiang Mai University (CMU) in Thailand will consists mainly of a thermionic cathode radio-frequency (RF) electron gun, an alpha magnet, a traveling-wave linear accelerator (linac) structure and two magnetic bunch compressor systems. The detailed study of all components in the injector system is very important for generation of high quality electron beam and radiation. This paper focuses on the alpha magnet, which is used as a magnetic bunch compressor and an energy filter before the beam being accelerated in a post-acceleration linac structure. We report its characteristics and the electron beam dynamics in its three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field distribution that was simulated with the program CST EM Studio 2016. The simulated alpha magnet’s fields are comparable with the measurement data. The beam dynamic simulations in 3D magnetic field were performed by using programs ASTRA and ELEGANT. The simulation results allow us to investigate the influence of the fringe field, the vertical focusing and the space charge effect in the alpha magnet. This is significantly important for electron beam manipulation in the injector system. The study outputs reveal that the proper injection angle in the practical beam operation to compensate the fringe field effect should be 42∘ that is 1.29∘ larger than the ideal injection angle. We also found that the ratio of the vertical focal length to the total path length in the alpha magnet is 0.544, which is independent on the magnetic field gradient. Moreover, the space charge force in the electron bunch leads to the rotation of transverse phase spaces while the beam traverses in the alpha magnet’s field. This effect has considerably small influence on the longitudinal phase space, especially for the beam with a bunch charge not exceeding 0.2 nC.

The Influence of Brass Compensator Thickness and Field Size on Neutron Contamination Spectrum in 18MV Elekta SL 75/25 Medical Linear Accelerator with and without Flattening Filter: A Monte Carlo Study

One of the most significant Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy treatment benefits is a high target to normal tissue dose ratio. To improve this advantage, an additional accessory such as a compensator is used to deliver doses. Compensator-based IMRT treatment is usually operated with an energy higher than 10 MV. Photoneutrons, which have high linear energy transfer and radiobiological effectiveness, are produced by colliding high-energy photon beams with linear accelerator structures, then they deliver the unwanted doses to patients and staff. Therefore, the neutron energy spectra should be determined in order to calculate and reduce the photoneutron risk. We have conducted a comprehensive and precise study on the influence of brass compensator thickness and field size on neutron contamination spectrum in an Elekta SL 75/25 medical linear accelerator with and without the flattening filter by Monte Carlo method. MCNPX MC Code version 2.6.0 was utilized to simulate the detailed geometry of Elekta SL 75/25 head components based on Linac's manual. This code includes an important feature to simulate the photo-neutron interactions. Photoneutrons spectrum was calculated after the Linac output benchmarking based on tuning the primary electron beam. Based on the Friedman and Wilcoxon nonparametric tests results (P<0.05), photoneutron fluence directly depends on the field size and compensator thickness. Moreover, the unflattened beam provides lower photoneutron fluence than the flattened beam. Photoneutrons fluence is not negligible in compensator-based IMRT treatment. However, in order to optimize treatment plans, this additional and unwanted dose must be accounted for patientss.

Fabrication of Split-Section X-band Structure Using Elastic Averaging

Conventional accelerator structures are manufactured using axial stacks of cylindrical components which, when brazed together, form the accelerator cell structure. Splitting the accelerator structure into two sections along the beam axis allows for a significant reduction in part count and vacuum joint length [1]. The resultant single and coplanar vacuum joint between the two split sections allows for joining techniques such as electron beam welding or brazing of the parts to form the accelerator vacuum envelope. High precision alignment of the two sections is achieved through an elastic averaging interface coupling where improved accuracy is derived from the averaging of errors over a large number of relatively compliant contacting members. The monoblock split sections allow for highly optimized cooling configurations with enhanced heat removal in high heat flux regions, reducing vacuum wall thermal stresses and enabling higher power operation. This paper describes the engineering and manufacturing of four generations of brazed and electron beam welded Xband accelerator structures at both 9.3 GHz and 11.4 GHz frequencies.

Design a high power pulse transformer for c-band klystron modulator

Shanghai soft X-ray Free Electron Lasers (SXFEL) used C-band accelerator structure to accelerate electrons at SINAP (Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics). 50MW C-band klystron and 110MW modulator are used to provide power supply for accelerator structure. In order to meet the modulator-klystron demands, a reliable and stable high power pulse transformer is indispensable. In this paper, the key design points for the high voltage pulse transformer are presented. The methods of shortening rise time and diminishing flattop droop are highlighted.

Beam dynamics studies for beam focusing and solenoid alignment at SINBAD

SINBAD facility (Short INnovative Bunches and Accelerators at DESY) under construction at DESY plans to host several experiments for the production of ultra-short bunches and will be a test facility for high-gradient compact novel acceleration techniques. The ARES (Accelerator Research Experiment at SINBAD) linac is foreseen to produce ultra-short bunches to be injected e.g. into Novel Dielectric Laser Acceleration structures or Laser Wake-Field Acceleration experiments. The work presented in this paper is based on optimization of the focusing system consisting of solenoids for the ARES, which have been studied earlier in detail but is revisited for updated beamline. Moreover tolerances for the possible misalignment of solenoids are presented investigating the effect on the beam properties during the gun commissioning.

First order sensitivity analysis of electron acceleration in dual grating type dielectric laser accelerator structures

Symmetrically driven dual-grating type DLA (Dielectric Laser Accelerator) linac structures allow for in-channel electric field gradients on the order of GV/m at optical wavelengths. In this work we study the sensitivity of important final beam parameters like mean energy, energy spread and transverse emittance on DLA drive laser as well as input beam parameters. To this end a fast specialized particle tracking code (DLATracker) is used to compute the so called first order sensitivity indices based on a large number of Monte Carlo simulation runs of an exemplary external injection based DLA experiment. The results of this work point out important stability constraints on the drive laser setup and the externally injected electron beam.

Про проектування малочутливих прискорювально-фокусуючих систем методами практичної стійкості

Про проектування малочутливих прискорювально-фокусуючих систем методами практичної стійкості

A Data-constrained Model for Coronal Mass Ejections Using the Graduated Cylindrical Shell Method

Abstract Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are major drivers of extreme space weather conditions, as this is a matter of serious concern for our modern technologically dependent society. The development of numerical approaches that would simulate CME generation and propagation through the interplanetary space is an important step toward our capability to predict CME arrival times at Earth and their geoeffectiveness. In this paper, we utilize a data-constrained Gibson–Low (GL) flux rope model to generate CMEs. We derive the geometry of the initial GL flux rope using the graduated cylindrical shell method. This method uses multiple viewpoints from STEREO A and B Cor1/Cor2, and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/LASCO C2/C3 coronagraphs to determine the size and orientation of a CME flux rope as it starts to erupt from the Sun. A flux rope generated in this way is inserted into a quasi-steady global magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) background solar wind flow driven by Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager line-of-sight magnetogram data, and erupts immediately. Numerical results obtained with the Multi-Scale Fluid-Kinetic Simulation Suite (MS-FLUKSS) code are compared with STEREO and SOHO/LASCO coronagraph observations, in particular in terms of the CME speed, acceleration, and magnetic field structure.

A High-Resolution Compression Scheme for Ray Tracing Subdivision Surfaces with Displacement

Subdivision surfaces, especially with displacement, are one of the key modeling primitives used in high-quality rendering environments, such as, e.g., movie production. While their use easily maps to rasterization-based frameworks, they pose a significant challenge for ray tracing environments. This is due to the fact that incoherent access patterns require storing or caching fully tessellated and displaced meshes for efficient intersection computations. In this paper we use a two-tier hierarchy built on a scene's patches. It relies on compressed and quantized bounding volumes on the second tier to reduce the size of the BVH itself. Based on this acceleration structure, we propose a quantized, compact approximation for leaf nodes while being faithful to the underlying patch-geometry. We build on recent advances and present a system that shows competitive performance regarding run-time speed, which is close to full-resolution pre-tessellation methods as well as to previous compression approaches. Ultimately, we provide strong compression of up to a factor of 5: 1 compared to state-of-the-art methods while maintaining high geometrical fidelity surpassing similarly compact approximations and getting close to uncompressed geometry.

Design of a tapered slot waveguide dielectric laser accelerator for sub-relativistic electrons.

We propose a dielectric laser accelerator design based on a tapered slot waveguide structure for sub-relativistic electron acceleration. This tapering scheme allows for straightforward tuning of the phase velocity of the accelerating field along the propagation direction, which is necessary for maintaining synchronization with electrons as their velocities increase. Furthermore, the non-resonant nature of this design allows for better tolerance to experimental errors. We also introduce a method to design this continuously tapered structure based on the eikonal approximation, and give a working example based on realistic experimental parameters.

Diagnostics for plasma-based electron accelerators

Plasma-based accelerators that impart energy gain as high as several GeV to electrons or positrons within a few centimeters have engendered a new class of diagnostic techniques very different from those used in connection with conventional radio-frequency (rf) accelerators. The need for new diagnostics stems from the micrometer scale and transient, dynamic structure of plasma accelerators, which contrasts with the meter scale and static structure of conventional accelerators. Because of this micrometer source size, plasma-accelerated electron bunches can emerge with smaller normalized transverse emittance (en<0.1 mm mrad) and shorter duration (τb∼1 fs) than bunches from rf linacs. Single-shot diagnostics are reviewed that determine such small en and τb noninvasively and with high resolution from wide-bandwidth spectral measurement of electromagnetic radiation the electrons emit: en from x rays emitted as electrons interact with transverse internal fields of the plasma accelerator or with external optical fields or undulators; τb from THz to optical coherent transition radiation emitted upon traversing interfaces. The duration of ∼1 fs bunches can also be measured by sampling individual cycles of a copropagating optical pulse or by measuring the associated magnetic field using a transverse probe pulse. Because of their luminal velocity and micrometer size, the evolving structure of plasma accelerators, the key determinant of accelerator performance, is exceptionally challenging to visualize in the laboratory. Here a new generation of laboratory diagnostics is reviewed that yield snapshots, or even movies, of laser- and particle-beam-generated plasma accelerator structures based on their phase modulation or deflection of femtosecond electromagnetic or electron probe pulses. Spatiotemporal resolution limits of these imaging techniques are discussed, along with insight into plasma-based acceleration physics that has emerged from analyzing the images and comparing them to simulated plasma structures.

Interference identification in smart grid communications

The TD-LTE wireless private network for electric power systems is an important component of smart grids, and coverage analysis and interference identification are essential in operating and optimizing of power wireless private networks. This paper presents an approach to analyzing indoor and outdoor coverage scopes of cell radio signals and recognizing locations and sources of intra-network interference in the network deployed in a dense urban environment. This approach takes scenario modeling to represent terrain and on-ground objects given by digital maps, utilizes ray tracing to track the signal propagation trajectories, and calculates strength attenuation of radio signals due to signal propagation such as direct transmission, reflection, diffraction and refraction. The uniform grid is employed as the acceleration structure to speed up tracing signal propagation paths, and drive-testing measurement data and scenario-oriented propagation model calibration are used to improve analysis accuracy. Weak coverage spots and interference defect spots are defined and used to identify interference types and sources. We applied the approach to a tentative TD-LTE power wireless private network in a southern city in China, proving that the ray-tracing-based scheme is able to make precise analysis on coverage and interference in practical networks.

Resonance frequency tuning of an RF cavity through sliding mode extremum seeking

Tuning of the natural resonance frequency of an RF cavity is crucial to achieve maximum power transfer from the cavity to the beam, to reduce power requirements, and to guarantee a predictable particle speed gain within each accelerator structure. So far, most operational cavities are frequency tuned through a phase comparison technique, which is sensitive to temperature variations if the facility or signal transportation cables are not temperature controlled. Temperature induced phase errors render this technique labor and time intensive. This paper presents an RF cavity tuning scheme, based on reflected power measurements and sliding mode extremum seeking control, to eliminate the phase measurement related difficulties. A stability analysis provides conditions on how to choose the controller parameters to guarantee stable system operation up to twice the cavity bandwidth, which is a controllable bandwidth improvement of a factor of two. The system has been implemented in two of TRIUMF’s (Canada’s particle accelerator centre) room temperature resonators and long term measurements show that the system effectively counteracts the RF heating effect as well as diurnal temperature variations.

A photon source model based on particle transport in a parameterized accelerator structure for Monte Carlo dose calculations.

An accurate source model of a medical linear accelerator is essential for Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculations. This study aims to propose an analytical photon source model based on particle transport in parameterized accelerator structures, focusing on a more realistic determination of linac photon spectra compared to existing approaches. We designed the primary and secondary photon sources based on the photons attenuated and scattered by a parameterized flattening filter. The primary photons were derived by attenuating bremsstrahlung photons based on the path length in the filter. Conversely, the secondary photons were derived from the decrement of the primary photons in the attenuation process. This design facilitates these sources to share the free parameters of the filter shape and be related to each other through the photon interaction in the filter. We introduced two other parameters of the primary photon source to describe the particle fluence in penumbral regions. All the parameters are optimized based on calculated dose curves in water using the pencil-beam-based algorithm. To verify the modeling accuracy, we compared the proposed model with the phase space data (PSD) of the Varian TrueBeam 6 and 15MV accelerators in terms of the beam characteristics and the dose distributions. The EGS5 Monte Carlo code was used to calculate the dose distributions associated with the optimized model and reference PSD in a homogeneous water phantom and a heterogeneous lung phantom. We calculated the percentage of points passing 1D and 2D gamma analysis with 1%/1mm criteria for the dose curves and lateral dose distributions, respectively. The optimized model accurately reproduced the spectral curves of the reference PSD both on- and off-axis. The depth dose and lateral dose profiles of the optimized model also showed good agreement with those of the reference PSD. The passing rates of the 1D gamma analysis with 1%/1mm criteria between the model and PSD were 100% for 4×4, 10×10, and 20×20cm2 fields at multiple depths. For the 2D dose distributions calculated in the heterogeneous lung phantom, the 2D gamma pass rate was 100% for 6 and 15MV beams. The model optimization time was less than 4min. The proposed source model optimization process accurately produces photon fluence spectra from a linac using valid physical properties, without detailed knowledge of the geometry of the linac head, and with minimal optimization time.

A terahertz pump mega-electron-volt ultrafast electron diffraction probe apparatus at the SLAC Accelerator Structure Test Area facility

We describe a new experimental setup capable of measuring structural dynamics following intense terahertz excitation. This system, developed at the SLAC Accelerator Structure Test Area facility, uses a high-energy ultrafast laser to produce intense terahertz pulses and femtosecond electron bunches that are accelerated to mega-electron-volt kinetic energies. The focused terahertz pulses have electric fields in excess of 600 kV/cm, and the resulting structural dynamics can be followed by electron diffraction. We also present some examples demonstrating its implementation where interactions between the THz pulses and the electron bunch are used to characterize the spatial and temporal characteristics of the THz field.

Acceleration Model of Child-Friendly City/District in Lampung Province

Lampung Province has issued several children programs, but its implementation is still not maximal. Such conditions are possible because, in the context of the actors and substance, the KLA (Kota Layak Anak or Child-Friendly City) program still positions the local government as a single actor. The issue of children has not been the center of attention in the overall development policy. Sectoral, segmented, and structured children programs do not involve community potential. Such patterns and modeling are the products of top-down planning. That is, the location of the constraints is in the centralized model as the applied planning model. Related to this, hence more comprehensive, integrated methods, models and ways to achieve the objectives of KLA program of Lampung Province are required. The purpose of this study is to explain: 1) various central issues of child’s problems, potentials of community institutional support and 2) model structure and phases of acceleration of city/district proper for children that can fulfill child rights, child protection, and child development. On the basis of the expected objectives, used the descriptive qualitative method. The research findings: 1) there are still many problems that occur in Lampung Province; 2) This study provides an overview of the potential of community institutions that have concerns about child issues and support for local government policy, but both are not synergistic, development programs are still implemented partially, segmented, sectoral, not yet integrated and less involving or inclusive to community potential. It can be concluded that the solution that can be developed is to build a collaborative planning model based on dialogue in multi-stakeholder forums as a strategic material for the city/district in accordance with the implementation of the 3 stages which become the acceleration area of KLA.

Source-to-accelerator quadrupole matching section for a compact linear accelerator.

Recently, we presented a new approach for a compact radio-frequency (RF) accelerator structure and demonstrated the functionality of the individual components: acceleration units and focusing elements. In this paper, we combine these units to form a working accelerator structure: a matching section between the ion source extraction grids and the RF-acceleration unit and electrostatic focusing quadrupoles between successive acceleration units. The matching section consists of six electrostatic quadrupoles (ESQs) fabricated using 3D-printing techniques. The matching section enables us to capture more beam current and to match the beam envelope to conditions for stable transport in an acceleration lattice. We present data from an integrated accelerator consisting of the source, matching section, and an ESQ doublet sandwiched between two RF-acceleration units.