Short-pulse Beam Research Articles

Demonstration of shape analysis of neutron resonance transmission spectrum measured with a laser-driven neutron source

Laser-driven neutron sources (LDNSs) can generate strong short-pulse neutron beams, which are valuable for scientific studies and engineering applications. Neutron resonance transmission analysis (NRTA) is a nondestructive technique used for determining the areal density of each nuclide in a material sample using pulsed thermal and epithermal neutrons. Herein, we report the first successful NRTA performed using an LDNS driven by the Laser for Fast Ignition Experiment at the Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University. The key challenge was achieving a well-resolved resonance transmission spectrum for material analysis using an LDNS with a limited number of laser shots in the presence of strong background noise. We addressed this by employing a time-gated 6Li\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{6}{\ extrm{Li}}$$\\end{document}-glass scintillation neutron detector to measure the transmission spectra, reducing the impact of electromagnetic noise and neutron and gamma-ray flashes. Output waveforms were recorded for each laser shot and analyzed offline using a counting method. This approach yielded a spectrum with distinct resonances, which were attributed to 115In\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{115}\\,{\ extrm{In}}$$\\end{document} and 109Ag\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{109}{\ extrm{Ag}}$$\\end{document}, as confirmed through neutron transmission simulation. The spectrum was analyzed using the least-square nuclear-resonance fitting program, REFIT, demonstrating the possibility of using an LDNS for nondestructive areal-density material characterization.

All-dielectric meta-surface transmission-mode ultra-thin GaAs negative electron affinity photocathode

Transmission-mode (t-mode) GaAs negative electron affinity photocathodes (NEA-PCs) can be integrated with the optical focusing lenses and microchannel plates to produce high-quality electron beams and high-sensitive detectors. Quantum efficiency (QE) of ∼40% has been reported for the t-mode thick (>1000 nm) GaAs NEA-PCs. Nevertheless, practical applications of these devices have been seriously restricted by their long response time (tens of picoseconds). In this work, the all-dielectric meta-surfaces (ADMS) were designed as the light managers for the t-mode ultra-thin GaAs NEA-PCs. For the 500–850 nm waveband, high light absorption (>80%) can be obtained through coupling the electromagnetic dipole moments of ADMS into the leaky optical modes in 100 nm ultra-thin GaAs NEA-PC layer, which leads to enhanced QE higher than that of the thick ones, the response time less than 5 ps, and the mean transverse energy less than 60 meV, respectively. Given these properties, ADMS t-model ultra-thin NEA-PCs represent a promising photocathode to provide the high-brightness short-pulse spin-polarized electron beams and high-sensitive fast-response detectors for the electron accelerator and low-light-level photodetection applications, respectively.

Variably polarized superradiant THz source employing crossed undulator configuration

We propose a variably polarized high-power THz source based on a crossed undulator configuration optimized for superradiant emissions from a short-pulsed electron beam. It generates arbitrary polarization by superimposing orthogonal linear polarization from two planar undulators. The phase difference is adjusted by slightly varying the path length of the first radiation in the phase shifter located between the undulators, enabling continuous and fast polarization manipulation. To realize the crossed undulator scheme based on superradiance in the THz region, it is necessary to maintain an extremely short electron bunch length of the order of 100 fs or less throughout the two undulators. We have designed a prototype system with an R56-variable triple-bend phase shifter that enables isochronous electron beam transport. Through theoretical and numerical analyses, we found that although polarization has significant observation angle dependence, a degree of polarization higher than 0.9 and a significant radiation intensity can be obtained under an appropriate angular limitation. Depending on the electron beam current and the number of undulator periods, it is estimated that the effective intensity under an angular limitation for a degree of circular polarization of 0.9 can reach the order of 100 mW on average.

Intense laser-generated ion beams in plasmas: the rapid heating regime

Previous work (Robinson 2022 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 64 105014) has shown that there is a regime of ion beam transport in plasmas where the electron–ion drag becomes so intense that the electron temperature rapidly rises to temperatures at which the electron–ion drag is strongly reduced. This regime is mainly thought to pertain to short-pulse laser-generated ion beams, because of the ion energy fluences required to enter this regime. The regime for was thought to be determined by a dimensionless number, . Here it is shown that there is another dimensionless number that needs to be considered. Numerical simulations show that this dimensionless number, χ h , does not affect the half-energy range of the ion beam, but does determine how strong stopping is at the ion beam front, and thus how rapidly the beam energy falls past the half-energy range.

Polarimetry for 3He Ion Beams from Laser–Plasma Interactions

We present a compact polarimeter for 3He ions with special emphasis on the analysis of short-pulsed beams accelerated during laser–plasma interactions. We discuss the specific boundary conditions for the polarimeter, such as the properties of laser-driven ion beams, the selection of the polarization-sensitive reaction in the polarimeter, the representation of the analyzing-power contour map, the choice of the detector material used for particle identification, as well as the production procedure of the required deuterated foil-targets. The assembled polarimeter has been tested using a tandem accelerator delivering unpolarized 3He ion beams, demonstrating good performance in the few-MeV range. The statistical accuracy and the deduced figure-of-merit of the polarimetry are discussed, including the count-rate requirement and the lower limit of accuracy for beam-polarization measurements at a laser-based ion source.

Predictive capability of material screening by fast neutron activation analysis using laser-driven neutron sources.

Bright, short-pulsed neutron beams from laser-driven neutron sources (LANSs) provide a new perspective on material screening via fast neutron activation analysis (FNAA). FNAA is a nondestructive technique for determining material elemental composition based on nuclear excitation by fast neutron bombardment and subsequent spectral analysis of prompt γ-rays emitted by the active nuclei. Our recent experiments and simulations have shown that activation analysis can be used in practice with modest neutron fluences on the order of 105 n/cm2, which is available with current laser technology. In addition, time-resolved γ-ray measurements combined with picosecond neutron probes from LANSs are effective in mitigating the issue of spectral interference between elements, enabling highly accurate screening of complex samples containing many elements. This paper describes the predictive capability of LANS-based activation analysis based on experimental demonstrations and spectral calculations with Monte Carlo simulations.

Four-dimensional emittance measurements of ultrafast electron diffraction optics corrected up to sextupole order

Ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) is a technique in which short-pulse electron beams can probe the femtosecond-scale evolution of atomic structure in matter driven far from equilibrium. As an accelerator physics challenge, UED imposes stringent constraints on the brightness of the probe electron beam. The low normalized emittance employed in UED, often at the 10-nm scale and below, is particularly sensitive to both applied field aberrations and space-charge effects. The role of aberrations is increasingly important in small probe systems that often feature multiple orders of magnitude variations in beam size during transport. In this work, we report the correction of normal quadrupole, skew quadrupole, and sextupole aberrations via dedicated corrector elements in an ultrafast electron microdiffraction beamline. To do this, we generate precise four-dimensional phase space maps of rf-compressed electron beams and find excellent agreement with aberration-free space-charge simulations. Finally, we discuss the role a probe-forming aperture can play in improving the brightness of bunches with appreciable space-charge effects.

A 64-Channel Data Acquisition System-Based Ultralow Noise Transimpedance Amplifier for an Ionization Profile Monitor

To meet the high time-resolution requirements of a fast ionization profile monitor (IPM), a 64-channel electrical signal acquisition system with a fast response frequency of 1 MHz has been developed. This article initially describes an ultralow noise transimpedance amplifier, which is an analog front-end (AFE) electronics aiming to achieve a balance between the accuracy and bandwidth, as well as to truly reflect the microstructure of short beam pulses. Subsequently, a synchronized multichannel data transmission system based on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) transmits data streaming with the low latency and high throughput, and meanwhile, it provides data homogeneity in time across channels. The system is designed in a modular way to easily extend up to 128 channels. The nonlinearity of the readout electronics is less than 0.2% in the dynamic range of 15 nA– <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$15~\mu \text{A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> , and the relative resolution is 0.15% at the input current of 15 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> . The spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is about 82.43 dB at a fundamental frequency of 1 kHz, and the effective number of bits (ENOB) of the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) is better than 13 bits. The relative synchronization time discrepancy between channels is better than 2.5% of the sampling cycle. Finally, the system is deployed for the beam profile measurement with an IPM. The obtained peak value shows a good proportionality with the beam intensity increment, and all the electronics properties achieve reasonable and excellent performance.

First operations with caesium of the negative ion source SPIDER

The negative-ion based neutral beam injector for heating and current drive of the ITER plasma (ITER HNB) is under development, at present focusing on the optimization of the full-scale plasma source in the SPIDER test stand. The production of H− or D− ions in the ion source is based on the low work function surfaces obtained by caesium evaporation. This paper describes the caesium conditioning procedure and the corresponding beam performances during the first operation of SPIDER with caesium. Technical solutions to overcome present limitations of the test stand are described. The influence of source parameters on the caesium effectiveness was investigated in short beam pulse operation; with total radio-frequency (RF) power of 400 kW and filling pressure below 0.4 Pa, and a limited number of extraction apertures, a negative ion current density of about 200 A m−2 was extracted in hydrogen, with beam energy lower than 60 keV. Beam optics and beam uniformity were assessed thanks to the acceleration of isolated ion beamlets. A possible procedure to accelerate a uniform beam was demonstrated at low RF power. The results obtained in this first investigation provided key indications on the operation of one of the largest existing sources of accelerated negative hydrogen-like ions.

A new digital beam position and phase measurement implementation based on a field programmable gate array for the high intensity heavy-ion accelerator iLinac.

A new digital beam position and phase measurement (BPM) system was designed for the ion-Linac accelerator at the high intensity heavy ion accelerator facility. The fundamental and second harmonic signals are retrieved from the BPM electrodes to simultaneously calculate their respective beam positions and phases. All data acquisition and digital signal processing algorithm routines are performed in a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The position and phase information are obtained by using the in-phase and quadrature demodulation method. A practical and straightforward method is used to generate the second harmonic reference signal for processing the second harmonic beam signal. The reconfigurable filters are integrated into the FPGA to allow the measurement of short beam pulse length. The laboratory test results show that the achieved phase resolution is better than 0.2° and 0.03° when the input signal is -60 and -45 dBm, respectively. A position resolution better than 30 μm was achieved for an input power level of approximately -60 dBm, and it can reach 7 μm with the input power higher than -45 dBm. The entire execution time of the algorithm is accomplished within 3.4 µs, which provides a sufficient reaction time for the fast beam interlock signal to the machine protection system. The performance of this newly designed prototype BPM electronics was evaluated with the online proton beam.

A New Trick to Make Short-Pulse Ion Beams

A New Trick to Make Short-Pulse Ion Beams

Dynamic Radiation Effects Induced by Short-Pulsed GeV U-Ion Beams in Graphite and h-BN Targets

Targets of isotropic graphite and hexagonal boron nitride were exposed to short pulses of uranium ions with ∼1 GeV kinetic energy. The deposited power density of ∼3 MW/cm³ generates thermal stress in the samples leading to pressure waves. The velocity of the respective motion of the target surface was measured by laser Doppler vibrometry. The bending modes are identified as the dominant components in the velocity signal recorded as a function of time. With accumulated radiation damage, the bending mode frequency shifts towards higher values. Based on this shift, Young’s modulus of irradiated isotropic graphite is determined by comparison with ANSYS simulations. The increase of Young’s modulus up to 3 times the pristine value for the highest accumulated fluence of 3 × 1013 ions/cm2 is attributed to the beam-induced microstructural evolution into a disordered structure similar to glassy carbon. Young’s modulus values deduced from microindentation measurements are similar, confirming the validity of the method. Beam-induced stress waves remain in the elastic regime, and no large-scale damage can be observed in graphite. Hexagonal boron nitride shows lower radiation resistance. Circular cracks are generated already at low fluences, risking material failure when applied in high-dose environment.

Brightness evaluation of pulsed electron gun using negative electron affinity photocathode developed for time-resolved measurement using scanning electron microscope

Temporal changes in carrier relaxations, magnetic switching, and biological structures are known to be in the order of ns. These phenomena can be typically measured by means of an optical-pump & electron-probe method using an electron microscope combined with a pulsed electron source. A photoemission-type pulsed electron gun makes it possible to obtain a short-pulsed electron beam required for high temporal resolution. On the other hand, spatial resolution is restricted by the brightness of the pulsed electron gun used in electron microscopes when a low brightness electron source is used and an irradiation current larger than a certain value is required. Thus, we constructed a prototype pulsed electron gun using a negative electron affinity (NEA) photocathode for time-resolved measurement using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with high spatiotemporal resolution. In this study, a high-speed detector containing an avalanche photodiode (APD) was used to directly measure waveforms of the pulsed electron beam excited by a rectangular-shape pulsed light with a variable pulse duration in the range of several ns to several μs. The measured waveforms were the same rectangular shape as incident pulsed excitation light. The maximum peak brightness of the pulsed electron beam was 4.2×107 A/m2/sr/V with a pulse duration of 3 ns. This value was larger than that of the continuous electron beam (1.6 × 107 A/m2/sr/V). Furthermore, an SEM image with image sharpness of 6.2 nm was obtained using an SEM equipped with a prototype pulsed electron gun at an acceleration voltage of 3 kV.

Conceptual Design of an Electrostatic Trap for High-Intensity Highly Charged Pulsed Beam

Highly charged ion sources play an important role in the advancement of heavy-ion accelerators worldwide. Demands of highly charged heavy ions for new and existing accelerators have driven the performance of ion sources to their limits. A new high charge state ion accumulating trap concept is proposed that converts a dc ion beam from an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source into a short-pulsed ion beam with suitable compression ratios. With a simple trap composed of an electron gun, a solenoid, and a set of drift tubes (DTs), the injected ions from a dc operation ECR ion source will be trapped radially and axially. By manipulating the potential of the DT, highly charged ions can be accumulated with multiple injections and extracted with augmentation of ion intensity in pulses of tens of μs. This article presents the simulations and design features of the envisioned ion trap.

Technical Note: Range verification of pulsed proton beams from fixed-field alternating gradient accelerator by means of time-of-flight measurement of ionoacoustic waves.

Ionoacoustics is one of the promising approaches to verify the beam range in proton therapy. However, the weakness of the wave signal remains a main hindrance to its application in clinics. Here we studied the potential use of a fixed-field alternating gradient accelerator (FFA), one of the accelerator candidates for future proton therapy. For such end, magnitude of the pressure wave and range accuracy achieved by the short-pulsed beam of FFA were assessed, using both simulation and experimental procedure. A 100MeV proton beam from the FFA was applied on a water phantom, through the acrylic wall. The beam range measured by the Bragg peak (BP)-ionization chamber (BPC) was 77.6mm, while the maximum dose at BP was estimated to be 0.35Gy/pulse. A hydrophone was placed 20mm downstream of the BP, and signals were amplified and stored by a digital oscilloscope, averaged, and low-pass filtered. Time-of-flight (TOF) and two relative TOF values were analyzed in order to determine the beam range. Furthermore, an acoustic wave transport simulation was conducted to estimate the amplitude of the pressure waves. The range calculated when using two relative TOF was 78.16±0.01 and 78.14±0.01mm, respectively, both values being coherent with the range measured by the BPC (the difference was 0.5-0.6mm). In contrast, utilizing the direct TOF resulted in a range error of 1.8mm. Fivefold and 50-fold averaging were required to suppress the range variation to below 1mm for TOF and relative TOF measures, respectively. The simulation suggested the magnitude of pressure wave at the detector exceeded 7 Pascal. A submillimeter range accuracy was attained with a pulsed beam of about 21ns from an FFA, at a clinical energy using relative TOF. To precisely quantify the range with a single TOF measurement, subsequent improvement in the measuring system is required.

Electrical conductivity enhancement of transparent silver nanowire films on temperature-sensitive flexible substrates using intense pulsed ion beam

Silver nanowire (AgNW) networks have attracted particular attention as transparent conductive films (TCF) due to their high conductivity, flexibility, transparency, and large scale processing compatible synthesis. As-prepared AgNW percolating networks typically suffer from high contact resistance, requiring additional post-synthetic processing. In this report, large area irradiation with 200 ns short intense pulsed ion beam (IPIB) was used to anneal and enhance the conductivity of AgNW network, deposited on temperature-sensitive polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. A TCF sheet resistance shows irradiation dose dependence, decreasing by four orders of magnitude and reaching a value of 70 Ω/sq without damaging the polymer substrate, which retained a transparency of 94%. The IPIB irradiation fused AgNW network into the PET substrate, resulting in a great adhesion enhancement. Heat transfer simulations show that the heat originates at the near-surface layer of the TCF and lasts an ultra-short period of time. Obtained experimental and simulation results indicate that the irradiation with IPIBs opens new perspectives in the low-temperature annealing of nanomaterials deposited on temperature-sensitive substrates.

The aspects of grain boundary diffusion in a surface modified by a short-pulse particle beam

The aspects of grain boundary diffusion in a surface modified by a short-pulse particle beam

On-line range verification for proton beam therapy using spherical ionoacoustic waves with resonant frequency

In contrast to conventional X-ray therapy, proton beam therapy (PBT) can confine radiation doses to tumours because of the presence of the Bragg peak. However, the precision of the treatment is currently limited by the uncertainty in the beam range. Recently, a unique range verification methodology has been proposed based on simulation studies that exploit spherical ionoacoustic waves with resonant frequency (SPIREs). SPIREs are emitted from spherical gold markers in tumours initially introduced for accurate patient positioning when the proton beam is injected. These waves have a remarkable property: their amplitude is linearly correlated with the residual beam range at the marker position. Here, we present proof-of-principle experiments using short-pulsed proton beams at the clinical dose to demonstrate the feasibility of using SPIREs for beam-range verification with submillimetre accuracy. These results should substantially contribute to reducing the range uncertainty in future PBT applications.

A new mechanism for void-cascade interaction from nondestructive depth-resolved atomic-scale measurements of ion irradiation-induced defects in Fe.

The nondestructive investigation of single vacancies and vacancy clusters in ion-irradiated samples requires a depth-resolved probe with atomic sensitivity to defects. The recent development of short-pulsed positron beams provides such a probe. Here, we combine depth-resolved Doppler broadening and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopies to identify vacancy clusters in ion-irradiated Fe and measure their density as a function of depth. Despite large concentrations of dislocations and voids in the pristine samples, positron annihilation measurements uncovered the structure of vacancy clusters and the change in their size and density with irradiation dose. When combined with transmission electron microscopy measurements, the study demonstrates an association between the increase in the density of small vacancy clusters with irradiation and a remarkable reduction in the size of large voids. This, previously unknown, mechanism for the interaction of cascade damage with voids in ion-irradiated materials is a consequence of the high porosity of the initial microstructure.

SHORT PULSE ELECTRON LINAC WITH FULL BEAM LOADING COMPENSATION

Acceleration of intense short-pulsed electron beams in transient mode with energy spread about a few tenths of a percent is the actual problem for RF linacs, in an instance, for an electron injector of a storage ring. In this work we study both analytically and numerically unsteady self-consistent beam dynamics in the one section RF linac fed from SLED. For compensation of the transient beam loading, resulting in beam energy spread, a method of a beam delay with respect to RF pulse is consider. In order to increase efficiency of this method we choose a homogenous dick-loaded waveguide with π/2 phase advance as an accelerating structure that characterized by the minimal frequency dispersion of group velocity. The preliminary results show that the full beam loading compensation is possible for the 1.2 A beam at its acceleration up to 60 MeV during 50 ns.