Beam Profile Measurements Research Articles

Use the external radiotherapy StarTrack detector to study the electron beam profile.

To assess the electron beam dose verification, and to investigate the dependability and stability of the Startrack two-dimensional array. The is cross-secional study was conducted from January to April 2021 at the Baghdad Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Baghdad Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. Quality assurance measurements were made using a StarTrack two-dimensional detector on an electron beam with an energy of 12MeV at 1.5cm depth for field sizes 6cm×6cm and 14cm×14cm. The detector was positioned 100cm from the source to the surface of the linear accelerator infinity. Testing was done using the International Electrotechnical Commissioning protocol. There was a significant difference between field sizes 6cmx6cm and 14cmx14cm (-4.97±0.83, -2.01±0.68, respectively) (p<0.05). The beam profile measurements of penumbra, flatness and symmetry were within limits ±2 cm, and ±2 cm, 2%, respectively. The percentage of output dose curve against distance showed instability in crossline for 6cm x 6cm and 14cm x 14cm field size. The output dose was found to be above the tolerance level, and should be corrected before patient treatment for 12MeV energy electron beam therapy.

Beam profile characteristics of a Varian linear accelerator across different photon energy levels

Radiotherapy employs variety of energy radiation to destroy cancer cells. A linear accelerator(also called LINAC) is the machine used to delivered external beam radiation therapy.In order to confirm the treatment planning systems that deliver the best radiation to the tumors while sparing the surrounding normal tissues, extensive measurements of dosimetric parameters are part of the commissioning procedure of a LINAC for clinical usage. This work aimed to compare and assess photon beam profiles with respect to penumbra width, symmetry, and beam flatness. Beam profile measurements were performed for this study atTMSS Cancer Center, Bogura, Bangladesh, using a linear accelerator (Varian VitalBeam SN: 5199) with 6MV,10MV and 15MV photon energies for a set of field sizes (4 × 4, 10 × 10 and 20 × 20 cm2) and various reference depths keeping the same environmental conditions. A 3D water phantom, CC13 ionization chamber (SN:18635)as a reference chamber, CC04 ionization field chamber (SN:18616) as a and IBA myQA Accept software version 1.6 were used to measure the profiles of photon energies 6 MV, 10 MV 15 MV respectively. Utilizing the Eclipse (Version: 16.1) external treatment planning system, the profile calculation was carried out. According to the manufacturer's and IEC specifications, the photon beam profile data from the current investigation are compatible, and all of the tolerances fall within the ranges of clinically acceptable tolerance.

A Q-band frequency tunable Doppler backscattering (DBS) system for pedestal and scrape-off layer density fluctuation and flow measurements in the DIII-D tokamak.

We present the design and laboratory tests for a new Q-band frequency tunable Doppler backscattering (DBS) system suitable for probing poloidal wavenumber kñ = 6-8cm-1 density fluctuations and their flow velocities in the pedestal and scape-off layer (SOL) of the DIII-D tokamak. This system will provide new measurements in the increasingly important and under-diagnosed far pedestal and SOL plasma regions. These results are important for experimental transport studies and necessary for the validation of transport models, both of which are important to fusion energy research. The use of a single tunable frequency reduces the complexity and potential failure points as compared to a multichannel system. This new system utilizes a 33-50GHz tunable source and will be integrated into the current V-band DBS in DIII-D using a broadband Q- and V-band multiplexer. A full-scale mockup of the quasi-optical system was used to test and optimize the performance. These tests include beam profile measurements at different distances (and angles) from a paraboloidal focusing and steering mirror. The measurements cover the full frequency range 33-75GHz of the integrated/combined Q-V band DBS system and target a large radial coverage of the low-field side of the plasma from ρ = 1.1 to ρ = 0.5, where ρ is the normalized flux surface radial coordinate.

Phase space reconstruction technique for beam optimization in the Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA)

The Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA) has been commissioned to the design energy of 20 MeV at BARC, India. The low energy beam transport (LEBT) channel of LEHIPA consists of two solenoids and drift spaces for matching the 50 keV proton beam from the ECR ion source (ECR-IS) to the RFQ. The ion beam extracted from the ECR-IS also contains molecular species like H2 + and H3 +. Proton fraction in the beam is found to degrade slowly with time due to surface contamination of the plasma chamber and this reduction in proton beam current has implications for longitudinal and transverse beam dynamics. Hence, it becomes important to characterise the beam at different proton fraction levels to understand the end-to-end beam dynamics of LEHIPA. Computed Tomography (CT) technique has been used for the beam phase-space reconstruction in LEHIPA, using a Python program, incorporating the feature of filtering secondary species from the beam profiles measured using slit scanners in the LEBT. Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (SART) is used in the reconstruction since it is identified to be a better technique for a limited number of projections. The reconstruction program is benchmarked with the TraceWin beam dynamics code and implemented on the measured beam profiles to recreate the phase space distribution at the beginning of LEBT. Further, the tomographic reconstruction method is compared with the solenoid scan method and the rms emittance values are found to be in good agreement. The measured tomographic phase space distribution has then been used as TraceWin input for LEHIPA end-end beam dynamics simulations and the LEHIPA beam line parameters are re-optimized for minimum beam emittance growth. This paper presents the simulations of CT technique, benchmarking simulations with TraceWin, phase space reconstruction with measured beam profiles and beam dynamics studies of LEHIPA using the reconstructed beam distributions.

Nonlinear to geometric focusing transition: beam self-cleaning and self-focusing critical power

We propose an easy but effective approach to find a transition numerical aperture between the regimes of laser pulse filamentation with nonlinear focusing and with geometric focusing predominance. The suggested method based on the beam profile measurements allows correction of the data provided by spectra measurements. Using a simple semi-analytical model, we study the dependence of the transition numerical aperture on the pulse power and medium nonlinearity. The analysis shows that in condensed media the transition from the nonlinear to geometric focusing regime occurs at much tighter focusing than in air. Moreover, if the medium nonlinear refractive index is high enough, only the nonlinear focusing regime is observed even at numerical apertures close to one, which allows symmetric plasma channel formation.

Measurement of the electron beam profile by the multiangle scanning method

Nowadays, ionizing radiation beams with relatively large transverse dimensions are widely used not only for research purposes but also in technological processes related to metal and food treatment, as well as medical instrument sterilization. Thus, control of beam characteristics is required, and in particular, the intensity distribution in the transverse plane must be accurately measured. The multiangle scanning method, based on mathematical transformations, allows overcoming the limitations of modern detectors used for these purposes. In this study, the method was applied to an electron beam. A detection system based on scintillating fiber was used. The beam profile was measured using the proposed method and a conventional detector — a film dosimeter. Experimental results allowto conclude that the beam intensity distribution obtained using the multiangle scanning method is close to the results obtained using a film dosimeter, which is most often used in medical institutions. Thus, we can consider the multiangle scanning method as an effective approach for determining the intensity distribution of an electron beam.

Electron beam profile measurement using enhanced dual-techniques in high heat flux test facility at Institute for Plasma Research.

During operation of an ITER-like plasma fusion device, Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) of a divertor are subjected to steady-state and transient heat loads of up to 20 MW/m2. At High Heat Flux Test Facility (HHFTF) at Institute for Plasma Research, PFCs are subjected to such heat flux scenarios using 200 kW electron beam (EB). A heat flux distribution on PFCs is significantly influenced by the EB profile and scanning technique. A novel dual-technique approach is used to measure EB cross-sectional profiles in HHFTF. A single setup is designed, fabricated, and installed in HHFTF consisting of (1) the knife-edge technique involving graphite and tungsten rectangular tiles bonded on a copper block adjacent to each other to form a sharp edge and (2) the wire scanner technique wherein tungsten wires are placed at equal distances. Current collected by the setup is measured as EB is rastered across the wire and tile boundaries. Current measured as a function of EB position is used to calculate the EB profile using a customized LabVIEW software application. Experiments are conducted by varying EB power from 28 to 200 kW and correspondingly the full width at half maximum of the EB profile grows from 5.30 to 16.04mm, as observed by both these techniques. The COMSOL Multiphysics simulation of the wire scanner technique is performed to verify the experimental results. X-ray and infra-red imaging diagnostics of HHFTF are also used to measure the EB profile in a unique and first-of-its-kind way, and they are found to agree well with the dual-technique measurements.

Proton irradiation of FPGA-embedded hadron fluence sensors

Hadron fluence monitors based on static random access memories (SRAMs) are in use at particle accelerators for the protection of electronics and at proton-therapy facilities for measuring secondary neutrons. One shortcoming of current solutions is that they necessitate SRAMs to detect radiation-induced single event upsets and require additional components to transfer the counts from the radiation area. This approach limits the practicality of the sensors due to their power requirements, increased board complexity, larger physical footprint and reduced total ionizing dose tolerance. In this work, we present proton irradiation test results of a novel proton and neutron fluence sensor we designed. The sensor is fully embedded in a SRAM-based field programmable gate array (FPGA) solving the abovementioned limitations of the state of the art. The FPGA configuration SRAM is used as a sensitive element, while the Joint Test Action Group interface is leveraged as a read out circuitry. We irradiated six sensor units by means of a variable-energy proton beam at the Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications (TIFPA, Trento, Italy). We discuss our results in terms of proton to upset cross section as a function of the proton energy in the range from 70 to 228 MeV, also parameterized with respect to the power supply voltage. We evaluate the variability of the cross section in the set of irradiated samples. Moreover, we show how we used the device to image the proton beam and measure beam profiles for aligning the configuration RAM and beam centers. We also suggest alternate reading modes to measure the fluence on the device by measuring the drawn current, rather than counting upsets.

Development of a novel fibre optic beam profile and dose monitor for very high energy electron radiotherapy at ultrahigh dose rates

Objective. Very high energy electrons (VHEE) in the range of 50–250 MeV are of interest for treating deep-seated tumours with FLASH radiotherapy (RT). This approach offers favourable dose distributions and the ability to deliver ultra-high dose rates (UHDR) efficiently. To make VHEE-based FLASH treatment clinically viable, a novel beam monitoring technology is explored as an alternative to transmission ionisation monitor chambers, which have non-linear responses at UHDR. This study introduces the fibre optic flash monitor (FOFM), which consists of an array of silica optical fibre-based Cherenkov sensors with a photodetector for signal readout. Approach. Experiments were conducted at the CLEAR facility at CERN using 200 MeV and 160 MeV electrons to assess the FOFM’s response linearity to UHDR (characterised with radiochromic films) required for FLASH radiotherapy. Beam profile measurements made on the FOFM were compared to those using radiochromic film and scintillating yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) screens. Main results. A range of photodetectors were evaluated, with a complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera being the most suitable choice for this monitor. The FOFM demonstrated excellent response linearity from 0.9 Gy/pulse to 57.4 Gy/pulse (R 2 = 0.999). Furthermore, it did not exhibit any significant dependence on the energy between 160 MeV and 200 MeV nor the instantaneous dose rate. Gaussian fits applied to vertical beam profile measurements indicated that the FOFM could accurately provide pulse-by-pulse beam size measurements, agreeing within the error range of radiochromic film and YAG screen measurements, respectively. Significance. The FOFM proves to be a promising solution for real-time beam profile and dose monitoring for UHDR VHEE beams, with a linear response in the UHDR regime. Additionally it can perform pulse-by-pulse beam size measurements, a feature currently lacking in transmission ionisation monitor chambers, which may become crucial for implementing FLASH radiotherapy and its associated quality assurance requirements.

A model for estimating peak skin dose in CT.

In interventional radiology patient care can be improved by accurately assessing peak skin dose (PSD) from procedures, as it is the main predictor for tissue-reactions such as erythema. Historically, high skin dose procedures performed in radiology departments were almost exclusively planar fluoroscopy. However, with the increase in use of technologies involving repeated or adjacent computed tomography (CT) such as CT fluoroscopy and multi-modality rooms, the peak skin dose delivered by CT needs to be considered. In this paper, a model to estimate the PSD delivered to a patient undergoing CT has been developed to assist in determining the overall PSD. This model relates the PSD to the device-reported CT Dose Index (CTDIvol) by accounting for a variety of CT technique and patient factors. It includes a novel method for estimating dose contributions as a function of patient or phantom size, scanner geometry, and physical measurement of lateral and depth-based beam profiles. Physical measurements of PSD using radiochromic film on several phantoms have been used to determine needed model parameters. The resulting fitted model was found to agree with measured data to a standard deviation of 5.1% for the data used to fit the model, and 6.8% for measurements that were not used for fitting the model. Two methods for adapting the model for specific scanners are provided, one based on local PSD measurements with radiochromic film and another using CTDIvol measurements. The model, when suitably adapted, can accurately assess individual patients' CT PSD. This information can be integrated with radiation exposure data from other modalities, such as planar fluoroscopy, to predict the overall risk of tissue reactions, allowing for more tailored patient care.

Self-Test of Air-Coupled Probe for Sensitivity Map Production Using Parabolic Reflector.

The spatial distribution of a transduction efficiency over the air-coupled probe surface was proposed as a convenient tool for the probe integrity inspection. In this research, a parabolic reflector is used for passive focusing of the acoustic wave on the surface of inspected probe. Therefore, no additional transducer is required for inspection: probe is used for self-inspection. This approach allows to avoid the expensive focused transducer and replaces it by the same-type air-coupled transducers as probe under test. Moreover, the use of the parabolic mirror for focusing is frequency-independent; therefore, such approach allows to inspect a wide range of the probes. Spread spectrum signals were used for excitation to improve the SNR and bandwidth coverage. The results of the experimental measurements of air-coupled transducer sensitivity map with natural and artificial defects implemented have been presented. Comparison with previously proposed techniques is given. It was found that defects presence distorts the focused beam, creating large sidelobes. Therefore, sensitivity map obtained with the proposed technique is lower quality than with previously proposed techniques. Beam profile measurements using a miniature microphone have been presented. Aperture-limiting mask has been proposed to reduce the sidelobes arising due to defects presence and resulting measurements quality has been improved.

Beam Profile Measurement Using the Highly-Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite

The mitigation of heat loading is one of the important issues for beam instrumentation to measure the high-power proton beam. Recently, the highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) material was used for the target probe of the bunch-shape monitor at the front end in the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Since the thermal conductivity of the HOPG is high, it is suitable to measure both transverse and longitudinal beam profiles under the condition of high heat loading. As an application of the HOPG, for example, the thin HOPG may be used as a substitutive material of the target wire for the transverse profile monitor such as the wire scanner monitor. The possibility of the HOPG target for both transverse and longitudinal beam profile monitors is discussed from some results of the test experiment using the 3 MeV negative hydrogen ion beam at the test stand.

Observation of Beam Emittance Reduction due to Gas Sheet Injection for Beam Profile Measurement

In a high intensity ion accelerator, a non-destructive beam monitor is required to realize a continuous measurement of the beam for improving the beam quality in operation for users. We have developed a non-destructive 2-D beam profile monitor detecting photons produced by interaction between a beam and a sheet-shaped gas. Though the developed monitor is a non-destructive type, the injected gas sheet should induce scattering of the beam particles which makes the beam emittance large. We have measured a beam current and a phase space distribution of the J-PARC 3 MeV, 60 mA H− beam with change of the gas sheet flux. It was found that the beam current reduction was in linear relation and the root mean square emittance was constant or decreased by up to 4.5% in y-y′ plane and did not change in x-x′ plane against a rise in the gas sheet flux. These result indicate that the developed monitor can be utilized as a non-destructive one depending on the gas sheet flux condition.

Gas sheet beam induced fluorescence based beam profile measurement for high intensity proton accelerators

The paper describes the design simulations, developmental details and characterization results of a dual gas sheet generator system for non-invasive beam profile measurement of high-intensity proton beams. The system is being developed for the Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator facility at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, India. To our knowledge, this is the first time an intense low energy proton beam was used to directly view the beam induced fluorescence of a gas sheet. The system works by generating two thin nitrogen gas sheets which produces fluorescence when a charged particle beam passes through them, thereby providing a visual representation of the beam's intensity profile. The gas sheets are generated at 45° to the beam axis, which allows the fluorescence created by the interaction to be viewed directly through a viewport or camera capture. The beam profile measurements were carried out with a typically 20 keV, 10 mA pulsed proton beam from an ECR ion source under different operating parameters like gas sheet pressure, beam current, beam energy and focusing magnetic field. The Geant4 simulation has been performed to study the scintillation process and optical transport. It may become useful to study methods of reconstructing the beam profile from image obtained.

Applying fully convolutional networks for beam profile and emittance measurements

The transverse cross-sectional size and emittance are critical beam parameters that characterize the performance of the accelerator and assess the state of the beam. Inspired by the success of machine learning in image processing tasks, we have crafted a bespoke measurement system with a primary focus on accurately determine the transverse cross-sectional size and emittance of the beam. The system utilizes a beam spot detector to convert the beam spot to a light spot image, which is then projected onto the CCD camera through the telecentric lens for the acquisition. The image data collected by the camera is subsequently imported into the EPICS database developed based on ADAravis software. We employ the Gaussian fitting technique on the collected images to accurately calculate the cross-sectional size of the beam. Furthermore, by incorporating the four-level iron scanning method, the lateral emittance of the beam is calculated in a comprehensive manner. To suppress the salt and pepper noise introduced due to the presence of dark current and beam shooting phenomena on the transmission line, we propose a novel fully convolutional neural network (FCN) design with preactivated residual units. The test conducted at HLS-II confirms that the measurement uncertainty of this system is superior to 27.5 μm. Moreover, when operating at an electron beam energy of 800 MeV, the measured emittance of the accelerator is found to be 38.515 nm·rad, a value closely aligning with the theoretical value of 36.2 nm·rad. These compelling results provide strong evidence supporting the reliability of the emittance measurement algorithm, making it suitable for deployment in the forthcoming terahertz accelerator.

Evaluation and improvement of angular response for a commercial 2D detector array for patient-specific QA.

MatriXX ionization chamber array has been widely used for the composite dose verification of IMRT/VMAT plans. However, in addition to its dose response dependence on gantry angle, there seems to be an offset between the beam axis and measured dose profile by MatriXX for oblique beam incidence at various gantry angles, leading to unnecessary quality assurance (QA) fails. In this study, we investigated the offset at various setup conditions and how to eliminate or decrease it to improve the accuracy of MatriXX for IMRT/VMAT plan verification with original gantry angles. We measured profiles for a narrow beam with MatriXX located at various depths in increments of 0.5mm from the top to bottom of the sensitive volume of the array detectors and gantry angles from 0° to 360°. The optimal depth for QA measurement was determined at the depth where the measured profile had minimum offset. The measured beam profile offset varies with incident gantry angle, increasing from vertical direction to lateral direction, and could be over 3cm at vendor-recommended depth for near lateral direction beams. The offset also varies with depth, and the minimum offset (almost 0 for most oblique beams) was found to be at a depth of ∼2.5mm below the vendor suggested depth, which was chosen as the optimal depth for all QA measurements. Using the optimal depth we determined, QA results (3%/2mm Gamma analysis) were largely improved with an average of 99.4% gamma passing rate (no fails for 95% criteria) for 10 IMRT and VMAT plans with original gantry angles compared to 94.1% using the vendor recommended depth. The improved accuracy and passing rate for QA measurement performed at the optimal depth with original gantry angles would lead to reduction in unnecessary repeated QA or plan changes due to QA system errors.

Construction of a radiation beam scanner and investigation of volume averaging correction factor effects on beam-profile.

In radiation beam-profile measurements, an accurate positioning of the detector with high position resolution is essential. For this purpose, we built a scanning device capable of moving a detector in three dimensions (3D) using mainly parts from a commercial 3D-printer. The accuracy and repeatability of movement was tested with caliper, laser displacement sensor and repeated 60Co beam-profile measurements in a water phantom. The results from the caliper and the sensor showed position accuracy for the scanner to be better than $\pm$150μm. The standard deviation of the error in position from laser sensor measurements was approximately 30μm, and the beam profile scans showed a maximum deviation from the mean position of 50μm. The effect of volume averaging correction factors on 60Co beam-profile was investigated with two different sized ionization chambers. The differences in the profiles were reduced significantly after applying the correction factors.

Development of mixed pitch grating for the optical addressing of trapped Sr+ ion with data analysis techniques.

Mixed pitch gratings are developed for the optical addressing of trapped 88Sr+ ion by means of simulation and experimental measurement approaches. Meanwhile, Python-based data analysis techniques were developed to analyze simulated and measured beam profiles. A fixed pitch grating with a pitch of 1.2 µm was used as a reference, and a mixed pitch grating with pitches of 1.1/1.2 µm of various ratios are investigated. The Python-based data analysis codes demonstrates highly automated capability in processing both simulated and measured beam profile data to compute key parameters, including beam waist and Gaussian fitting. Mixed pitch grating delivers light beam with smaller beam waist (17.4 µm) compared to the fixed pitch grating (26.4 µm), exhibiting ∼34% beam waist reduction.

Correlation of H- beam properties to Cs-coverage

A caesiated RF driven source delivers H- ions that, after stripping at the end of the 160 MeV H- linear injector, provides protons to CERN's accelerator complex including LHC, where the protons reached a record energy of 6.8 TeV. In Caesiated RF sources, H- ions are produced via dissociative attachment of electrons onto roto-vibrationally excited H2-molecules (volume) and re-emission as negative ions of protons or hydrogen atoms colliding on a low work function caesiated molybdenum plasma electrode (surface). During initial caesiation, the production mechanism evolves from the initial Cs-free volume production to a predominant surface production mode; the observed stunning reduction of co-extracted electrons is concomitant to an increase of the H- ion current to RF-power yield. This paper describes the evolution of the beam-profile at today's operational beam intensities of 35 mA for various ratios of volume and surface ion-origin. The presence of surface produced ions occurring on a conical plane is characterized by the electron to ion ratio and by measurement of the Cs-coverage of the molybdenum plasma electrode down to a fraction of a monolayer. Angular distributions are extracted from beam profile and Beam Emission Spectroscopy (BES) measurements. These experimental results provide an initial comparison to beam formation simulation that, at a later stage, could be coupled to beam transport software packages.The paper focuses on the caaesiation transient to present experimental evidence for 3D beam formation studies, it provides insight into the mixing of volume and surface production modes, reduction of co-extracted electrons and Cs-coverage. The paper also establishes magnetic field induced asymmetries in the beam's current density.

Pixelated silicon detector for radiation beam profile measurements

A pixelated silicon detector, developed originally for particle physics experiments, was used for a beam profile measurement of a cobalt-60 (Co-60) irradiator in a water phantom. The beam profile was compared to a profile measured with a pinpoint ionization chamber. The differences in the pixel detector and pinpoint chamber relative profiles were within approximately 2% of profile maximum, and after calculating correction factors with Monte Carlo simulations for the pixel detector, the maximum difference was decreased to approximately 1% of profile maximum. The detector’s capability to measure pulse-height was used to record an electron pulse-height spectrum in water in the Co-60 beam, and the results agreed well with simulations.