Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Powerful simulation tools are required for every accelerator and light source to study the motion of charged particles through electromagnetic fields during the accelerator design process, to optimize the performance of machine diagnostics and to assess beam stability and non-linear effects. The Optimization of Particle Accelerators (oPAC) Project is funded by the EU within the 7th Framework Programme and currently supports 23 Fellows that are based at institutions across Europe. This large network carries out R&D that closely links beam physics studies with the development of diagnostics and beyond state-of-the-art simulation tools. This contribution presents selected research outcomes from oPAC, including the numerical optimization of beam loss monitor locations along the European Spallation Source’s 5 MW proton linac, results from tracking studies for the LHeC lattice that allow beam stability to be assessed, and multi-objective optimization of the linear and non-linear beam dynamics of the synchrotron SOLEIL. In addition, an overview of recent and future oPAC events is also given.
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
RIKEN, Saitama, Japan
State-of-the-art high energy and high intensity accelerators require new approaches to transverse beam profile monitoring as many established techniques will no longer work due to the high power stored in the beam. In addition, many accelerator applications such as ion beam cancer therapy or material irradiation would benefit significantly from the availability of non-invasive beam profile monitors. Research in the QUASAR Group has focused on this area over the past 5 years. Two different approaches were successfully developed: Firstly, a supersonic gas jet-based monitor was designed and commissioned. It enables the detection of the 2-dimensional transverse beam profile of essentially any charged particle beam with negligible disturbance of the primary beam and accelerator vacuum. Secondly, a monitor based on the Silicon strip VELO detector, originally developed for the LHCb experiment, was tested as an online beam monitor at the Clatterbridge Cancer Center in the UK. The design of both monitors is presented in this contribution. Results from measurements are discussed and complemented by numerical studies into the performance limits of either technique.
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
UMD, College Park, Maryland, USA
Current beam bunch length monitors which measure the spectral content of beam-associated coherent radiation to determine the longitudinal bunch form factor usually require wide bandwidth detection or Fourier transformation of interferometric data and multiple beam pulses. The data must then be Fourier transformed to obtain the bunch length. In this contribution we discuss progress in the development of a novel single shot method that utilizes the frequency integrated angular distribution (AD) of coherent diffraction radiation (CDR) to measure the RMS bunch length directly. We also present simulation results which show how the AD changes with bunch length for several electron beam linacs, where we are planning to test this new method, our single shot measurement technique and plans for comparison to other bunch length monitors.
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
RIKEN, Saitama, Japan
The measurement of the transverse beam profile is a great challenge for high intensity, high brightness and high power particle beams due to their destructive power. Current non-destructive methods such as residual gas monitors and beam induced fluorescence monitors either require a rather long integration time or residual gas pressures in the order of 10-7 mbar to make meaningful measurements. A supersonic gas-jet beam profile monitor has been developed by QUASAR group at the Cockcroft Institute, UK and promises significant improvements over these established techniques. In this monitor, a supersonic gas curtain is generated that crosses the beam to be analyzed under an angle of 45°. When both beams interact, ionization of the gas jet particles occurs and these ions are then accelerated by an electrostatic extraction field towards a Micro Channel Plate (MCP). Beam images are then obtained via a phosphor screen-CCD camera combination. In this contribution, we discuss the monitor design and present beam profile measurements of a 5 keV electron beam. These are complemented by results from measurements using a pulsed valve to study the gas jet dynamics.
UMAN, Manchester, United Kingdom
Cockcroft Institute, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Particle in cell simulations were performed to characterise an electron injector for AWAKE project in order to provide a tuneable electron beam within a range of specifications required by the plasma wakefield experiments. Tolerances and errors were investigated. These results are presented in this paper alongside with the investigation regarding the beam dynamics implications of the 3GHz travelling wave structure developed for the injector.
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Intra-Beam Scattering (IBS) is one of the main limiting processes for the performance of low energy ion storage rings, such as the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA) that is being constructed at CERN. IBS effects limit the achievable equilibrium 6D beam phase space volume during the cooling process, as well as the stored beam intensity. In this contribution we analyze the IBS effects on the beam dynamics of the ELENA ring in detail. Numerical simulations using the codes BETACOOL and MAD-X have been performed to compute the beam life time and the equilibrium phase space parameters with electron cooling in the presence of IBS.
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
UMAN, Manchester, United Kingdom
Tech-X, Boulder, Colorado, USA
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Dielectric laser-driven accelerators (DLAs) based on gratings structures confine the laser-induced accelerating field in a narrow vacuum channel where the electrons travel and are being accelerated. Recent proof-of-principle experiments have successfully demonstrated acceleration of electrons with accelerating gradients of up to 250 MV/m in such novel structures. This contribution presents detailed numerical studies into the acceleration of relativistic and non-relativistic electrons in double gratings silica structures. The optimization of these structures with regards to maximum acceleration efficiency for different spatial harmonics is discussed. Simulations were carried out using the commercial CST and VSIM simulation codes and results from both codes are shown in comparison.
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 289191.
The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Cockcroft Institute, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
The Extra Low ENergy Antiproton (ELENA) ring will provide seven different experiments at CERN with cooled beams of low energy (~100 keV) antiprotons. As a result, a system of transfer lines is being designed to ensure that each experiment receives a beam with its required properties. In this contribution, particle tracking simulations using MADX are performed to explore the effects on the beam quality and orbit stability of different lattice imperfections, such as element misalignment, electric field and matching errors. The tolerances on the actual values of these quantities are obtained as a guide for the construction of the transfer lines.