Solenoidal Magnetic Field Research Articles

Development of C⁶⁺ laser ion source and RFQ linac for carbon ion radiotherapy.

A prototype C(6+) injector using a laser ion source has been developed for a compact synchrotron dedicated to carbon ion radiotherapy. The injector consists of a laser ion source and a 4-vane radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linac. Ion beams are extracted from plasma and directly injected into the RFQ. A solenoid guides the low-energy beams into the RFQ. The RFQ is designed to accelerate high-intensity pulsed beams. A structure of monolithic vanes and cavities is adopted to reduce its power consumption. In beam acceleration tests, a solenoidal magnetic field set between the laser ion source and the RFQ helped increase both the peak currents before and after the RFQ by a factor of 4.

A compact research facility for pulsed high magnetic fields of up to 50 T

A facility for generating pulsed magnetic fields with a millisecond duration and maximum peak values of 50 T is presented. The solenoid is produced from a Cu–Nb microcomposite conductor and is reinforced with a bandage made from Armos para-aramid fiber. The capacitor bank is switched to the high magnetic field solenoid by means of a solid-state switch board based on a module of reversely connected dynistors. Since the diameter of the working hole is 19.5 mm, it is possible to place a cryostat in it with operating temperatures as low as the helium temperatures and to measure the magnetization, the complex conductance, and the optical characteristics of substances in the visible and IR ranges. The operation features of the facility are discussed.

Integration of RFQ beam coolers and solenoidal magnetic fields.

Electromagnetic traps are a flexible and powerful method of controlling particle beams, possibly of exotic nuclei, with cooling (of energy spread and transverse oscillations) provided by collisions with light gases as in the Radio Frequency Quadrupole Cooler (RFQC). A RFQC prototype can be placed inside the existing Eltrap solenoid, capable of providing a magnetic flux density component B(z) up to 0.2 T, where z is the solenoid axis. Confinement in the transverse plane is provided both by B(z) and the rf voltage V(rf) (up to 1 kV at few MHz). Transport is provided by a static electric field E(z) (order of 100 V/m), while gas collisions (say He at 1 Pa, to be maintained by differential pumping) provide cooling or heating depending on V(rf). The beamline design and the major parameters V(rf), B(z) (which affect the beam transmission optimization) are here reported, with a brief description of the experimental setup.

The RHIC polarized H⁻ ion source.

A novel polarization technique had been successfully implemented for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) polarized H(-) ion source upgrade to higher intensity and polarization. In this technique, a proton beam inside the high magnetic field solenoid is produced by ionization of the atomic hydrogen beam (from external source) in the He-gaseous ionizer cell. Further proton polarization is produced in the process of polarized electron capture from the optically pumped Rb vapor. The use of high-brightness primary beam and large cross sections of charge-exchange cross sections resulted in production of high intensity H(-) ion beam of 85% polarization. The source very reliably delivered polarized beam in the RHIC Run-2013 and Run-2015. High beam current, brightness, and polarization resulted in 75% polarization at 23 GeV out of Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) and 60%-65% beam polarization at 100-250 GeV colliding beams in RHIC.

Investigation of the Tail of a Fe Plasma Plume Passing Through Solenoidal Magnetic Field for a Laser Ion Source

To control the plasma flux of a laser ion source for a desired beam profile, we investigated the influence of a quasi-static magnetic field generated by a solenoidal coil on the tail of an Fe ablation plasma. We observed that the magnetic field converged the outer plasma and almost did not affect the inner plasma when the plasma drifted through the field region. The convergence points of the outer plasma depended on the longitudinal velocity. The results indicate that diamagnetic current was induced in the outer plasma, and therefore, the outer plasma received the converging force and the magnetic field in the inner region was excluded by the plasma intrusion. The results also mean that we have to consider the magnetic effect on the transverse distribution of plasma flux to minimize the emittance growth and obtain desirable beam optics.

Electron string ion sources for carbon ion cancer therapy accelerators

The type of the Electron String Ion Sources (ESIS) is considered to be the appropriate one to produce pulsed C(4+) and C(6+) ion beams for cancer therapy accelerators. In fact, the new test ESIS Krion-6T already now provides more than 10(10) C(4+) ions per pulse and about 5 × 10(9) C(6+) ions per pulse. Such ion sources could be suitable to apply at synchrotrons. It has also been found that Krion-6T can provide more than 10(11) C(6+) ions per second at the 100 Hz repetition rate, and the repetition rate can be increased at the same or larger ion output per second. This makes ESIS applicable at cyclotrons as well. ESIS can be also a suitable type of ion source to produce the (11)C radioactive ion beams. A specialized cryogenic cell was experimentally tested at the Krion-2M ESIS for pulse injection of gaseous species into the electron string. It has been shown in experiments with stable methane that the total conversion efficiency of methane molecules to C(4+) ions reached 5%÷10%. For cancer therapy with simultaneous irradiation and precise dose control (positron emission tomography) by means of (11)C, transporting to the tumor with the primary accelerated (11)C(4+) beam, this efficiency is preliminarily considered to be large enough to produce the (11)C(4+) beam from radioactive methane and to inject this beam into synchrotrons.

Beam dynamics design of the Compact Linear Collider Drive Beam injector

In the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) the RF power for the acceleration of the Main Beam is extracted from a high-current Drive Beam that runs parallel to the main linac. The longitudinal and transverse beam dynamics of the Drive Beam injector has been studied in detail and optimized. The injector consists of a thermionic gun followed by a bunching system, some accelerating structures, and a magnetic chicane. The bunching system contains three sub-harmonic bunchers, a prebuncher, and a traveling wave buncher all embedded in a solenoidal magnetic field. The main characteristic of the Drive Beam injector is the phase coding process done by the sub-harmonic bunching system operating at half the acceleration frequency. This process is essential for the frequency multiplication of the Drive Beam. During the phase coding process the unwanted satellite bunches are produced that adversely affects the machine power efficiency. The main challenge is to reduce the population of particles in the satellite bunches in the presence of strong space-charge forces due to the high beam current. The simulation of the beam dynamics has been carried out with parmela with the goal of optimizing the injector performance compared to the existing model studied for the Conceptual Design Report (CDR). The emphasis of the optimization was on decreasing the satellite population, the beam loss in the magnetic chicane and limiting the beam emittance growth in transverse plane.

Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle with an antimatter beam at CERN

The goal of the AEgIS experiment is to measure the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen – the simplest atom consisting entirely of antimatter – with the ultimate precision of 1%. We plan to verify the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), one of the fundamental laws of nature, with an antimatter beam. The experiment consists of a positron accumulator, an antiproton trap and a Stark accelerator in a solenoidal magnetic field to form and accelerate a pulsed beam of antihydrogen atoms towards a free-fall detector. The antihydrogen beam passes through a moiré deflectometer to measure the vertical displacement due to the gravitational force. A position and time sensitive hybrid detector registers the annihilation points of the antihydrogen atoms and their time-of-flight. The detection principle has been successfully tested with antiprotons and a miniature moiré deflectometer coupled to a nuclear emulsion detector.

An Overmoded W-Band Coupled-Cavity TWT

A 94-GHz overmoded traveling-wave tube (TWT) has been designed, fabricated, and successfully tested. The TWT operates in the rectangular TM31 mode of the cavity, while lower order modes are suppressed using selectively placed strips of lossy dielectric. The 87-cavity TWT circuit was directly machined from Glidcop, a dispersion-hardened copper. The TWT was tested in a 0.25 T solenoidal magnetic field in 3- $\mu \text{s}$ pulses. Operating at a voltage of 30.6 kV with 250 mA of collector current, the TWT was zero-drive stable and achieved 21 ± 2 dB linear device gain with 27-W peak output power. Taking into account 3 dB of loss in both the input and output coupling circuits, the gain of the TWT circuit itself is 27 ± 2 dB with 55 W of saturated circuit output power. Using the 3-D particle-in-cell code CST Particle Studio, the linear circuit gain was estimated to be 28 dB and the saturated output power 100 W, in good agreement with the experimental results. The measured bandwidth of 30 MHz was significantly smaller than the predicted value of 250 MHz. The overmoded TWT is a promising approach to high-power TWT operation at W-band and to the extension of the TWT to terahertz frequencies.

Particle tracking at cryogenic temperatures: the Fast Annihilation Cryogenic Tracking (FACT) detector for the AEgIS antimatter gravity experiment

The AEgIS experiment is an interdisciplinary collaboration between atomic, plasma and particle physicists, with the scientific goal of performing the first precision measurement of the Earth's gravitational acceleration on antimatter. The principle of the experiment is as follows: cold antihydrogen atoms are synthesized in a Penning-Malmberg trap and are Stark accelerated towards a moiré deflectometer, the classical counterpart of an atom interferometer, and annihilate on a position sensitive detector. Crucial to the success of the experiment is an antihydrogen detector that will be used to demonstrate the production of antihydrogen and also to measure the temperature of the anti-atoms and the creation of a beam. The operating requirements for the detector are very challenging: it must operate at close to 4 K inside a 1 T solenoid magnetic field and identify the annihilation of the antihydrogen atoms that are produced during the 1 μs period of antihydrogen production. Our solution—called the FACT detector—is based on a novel multi-layer scintillating fiber tracker with SiPM readout and off the shelf FPGA based readout system. This talk will present the design of the FACT detector and detail the operation of the detector in the context of the AEgIS experiment.

Limitations of electron cyclotron resonance ion source performances set by kinetic plasma instabilities.

Electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) plasmas are prone to kinetic instabilities due to anisotropy of the electron energy distribution function stemming from the resonant nature of the electron heating process. Electron cyclotron plasma instabilities are related to non-linear interaction between plasma waves and energetic electrons resulting to strong microwave emission and a burst of energetic electrons escaping the plasma, and explain the periodic oscillations of the extracted beam currents observed in several laboratories. It is demonstrated with a minimum-B 14 GHz ECRIS operating on helium, oxygen, and argon plasmas that kinetic instabilities restrict the parameter space available for the optimization of high charge state ion currents. The most critical parameter in terms of plasma stability is the strength of the solenoid magnetic field. It is demonstrated that due to the instabilities the optimum Bmin-field in single frequency heating mode is often ≤0.8BECR, which is the value suggested by the semiempirical scaling laws guiding the design of modern ECRISs. It is argued that the effect can be attributed not only to the absolute magnitude of the magnetic field but also to the variation of the average magnetic field gradient on the resonance surface.

Characterization of Large GEM Module for the Tracker at Jlab Hall A

A new Large-Acceptance Forward Angle Spectrometer (Super BigBite) is under development at JLab/Hall A for the upcoming experiments in Hall A at Jefferson Lab where a longitudinally polarized electron beam of 11 GeV is now available. This beam, combined with innovative polarized targets will provided luminosity up to 1039 /(s·cm 2 ) opening exciting opportunities to investigate unexplored aspects of the inner structure of the nucleon. The tracker of this new apparatus is based on the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology, which has been chosen to optimize cost/performance, position resolution and to meet the high hit rate (>1 MHz/cm 2 ). The first GEM detector modules, designed and built by the INFN Collaboration JLAB12, were tested at the DESY test beam facility in Hamburg, by using an electron beam with energy ranging from 2.0 to 6.0 GeV. In particular, three 40x50 cm 2 GEM chambers were equipped with a new implementation of the APV25 readout chip. Measurements were performed at different impact points and angles between the electron beam and the plane of the GEM chambers, with one large chamber in a solenoid magnetic field up to 500 Gauss. In this paper we present the technical features of the tracker and comment on the presently achieved performance.

Theory of the plasma thruster based on the rotating electromagnetic field

A theory of electrodeless electric propulsion systems (EEPS) based on the use of the solenoid magnetic field and the rotating electromagnetic field produced by antennas is developed, which includes a study of the plasma acceleration by the Radio Frequency (RF) field and the concomitant thrust. It was assumed that the frequency of the RF field exceeds the lower hybrid frequency but is much less than the electron gyrofrequency. Relations for the thrust are obtained and analyzed. It is shown that thrust gain is significant only when the RF-induced drift velocity well exceeds the fluid velocity of the injected plasma. It is revealed that the curvature of the magnetic field lines and the plasma acceleration in the region outside the solenoid are the factors which can considerably increase the thrust. On the other hand, it is found that the axial inhomogeneity of the plasma and some other factors are unfavorable for the thrust. The obtained results can be used for the optimization of particular experiments aimed to create a new thruster for long-time space missions.

Positron beam facility at Kyoto University Research Reactor

A positron beam facility is presently under construction at the Kyoto University Research Reactor (KUR), which is a light-water moderated tank-type reactor operated at a rated thermal power of 5 MW. A cadmium (Cd) - tungsten (W) source similar to that used in NEPOMUC was chosen in the KUR because Cd is very efficient at producing γ-rays when exposed to thermal neutron flux, and W is a widely used in converter and moderator materials. High-energy positrons are moderated by a W moderator with a mesh structure. Electrical lenses and a solenoid magnetic field are used to extract the moderated positrons and guide them to a platform outside of the reactor, respectively. Since Japan is an earthquake-prone country, a special attention is paid for the design of the in-pile positron source so as not to damage the reactor in the severe earthquake.

Polarized deuterons and protons at NICA@JINR

The novel scheme of proton and deuteron polarization control in the NICA collider at Dubna is proposed. By means of two Siberian Shakes with solenoid magnetic field the beam spin tune is shifted to the “zero” spin resonance vicinity, whereas manipulation of the polarization is realized by “weak” field solenoids. The scheme makes it possible to obtain any desired direction of the polarization in the both MPD and SPD detectors for any sort of the particles. The possibility of the beam polarization control in the orbit plane at any azimuth of the collider magnetic arcs exists also. The last gives necessary flexibility of optimal matching the beam polarization at injection into collider and at the polarimetery monitor points.

Iron beam acceleration using direct plasma injection scheme

A new set of vanes of radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator was commissioned using highly charged iron beam. To supply high intensity heavy ion beams to the RFQ, direct plasma injection scheme (DPIS) with a confinement solenoid was adopted. One of the difficulties to utilize the combination of DPIS and a solenoid field is a complexity of electro magnetic field at the beam extraction region, since biasing high static electric field for ion extraction, RFQ focusing field, and the solenoid magnetic field fill the same space simultaneously. To mitigate the complexity, a newly designed magnetic field clamps were used. The intense iron beam was observed with bunched structure and the total accelerated current reached 2.5 nC.

Analytical-HZETRN model for rapid assessment of active magnetic radiation shielding

The use of active radiation shielding designs has the potential to reduce the radiation exposure received by astronauts on deep-space missions at a significantly lower mass penalty than designs utilizing only passive shielding. Unfortunately, the determination of the radiation exposure inside these shielded environments often involves lengthy and computationally intensive Monte Carlo analysis. In order to evaluate the large trade space of design parameters associated with a magnetic radiation shield design, an analytical model was developed for the determination of flux inside a solenoid magnetic field due to the Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) radiation environment. This analytical model was then coupled with NASA’s radiation transport code, HZETRN, to account for the effects of passive/structural shielding mass. The resulting model can rapidly obtain results for a given configuration and can therefore be used to analyze an entire trade space of potential variables in less time than is required for even a single Monte Carlo run. Analyzing this trade space for a solenoid magnetic shield design indicates that active shield bending powers greater than ∼15Tm and passive/structural shielding thicknesses greater than 40g/cm2 have a limited impact on reducing dose equivalent values. Also, it is shown that higher magnetic field strengths are more effective than thicker magnetic fields at reducing dose equivalent.

A model of field and spherical aberration in soft/hard edge solenoid magnets

A solenoid magnetic field model is presented that describes the on axis field by a parameter of its hard edginess and axial half-width at half-maximum field, which universally define its spherical aberration without solving the ray equation. The model shows an increase in spherical aberration from real soft edge fields to hard edge models, as used in beam tracking. It compares well with existing field models. It simply and accurately finds the spherical aberration in many types of solenoids.

Orientational ordering in blends of flexible and rigid diblock copolymers

A self-consistent mean-field computer simulation of ordering in blends of flexible and rigid rodlike diblock copolymers is performed. Each type of rigid block is selective toward one of the types of flexible blocks and is incompatible with the other. Flexible diblocks form a predominant component of the blend with parameters providing formation of a stable hexagonal morphology. As a result, orientational ordering is induced in the blend by a minor admixture of rigid diblocks, while the type of ordering is determined by the composition of the rigid diblocks. Three different types of orientational ordering, which having a clearly pronounced electromagnetic analogy, are established during variation in the composition of the rigid diblocks. Near a cylindrical micelle of the hexagonal morphology, the vector fields of primary directions of the orientational-order-parameter tensors for the three orientation types are highly similar to the magnetic field of the infinitely long rectilinear direct current, the cylindrical solenoid magnetic field with a constant linear current density, and the electrostatic field of a uniformly charged straight line, respectively.

Particle production and energy deposition studies for the neutrino factory target station

We present FLUKA and MARS simulation studies of the pion production and energy deposition in the Neutrino Factory baseline target station, which consists of a 4 MW proton beam interacting with a liquid mercury jet target within a 20 T solenoidal magnetic field. We show that a substantial increase in the shielding is needed to protect the superconducting coils from too much energy deposition. Investigations reveal that it is possible to reduce the magnetic field in the solenoid capture system without adversely affecting the pion production efficiency. We show estimates of the amount of concrete shielding that will be required to protect the environment from the high radiation doses generated by the target station facility. We also present yield and energy deposition results for alternative targets: gallium liquid jet, tungsten powder jet and solid tungsten bars.