Author: Van Niekerk, M.J.
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MOP11 Injection Line Studies for the SPC2 Cyclotron at iThemba LABS 75
 
  • F. Nemulodi, J.I. Broodryk, J.L. Conradie, J.G. De Villiers, W. Duckitt, D.T. Fourie, J. Mira, R.W. Thomae, M.J. Van Niekerk
    iThemba LABS, Somerset West, South Africa
  • J.J. Yang, T.J. Zhang
    CIAE, Beijing, People's Republic of China
 
  The transmission efficiency of some ion beams through the second solid-pole injector cyclotron (SPC2) at iThemba LABS requires improvement. In order to understand the beam optics in the injection line, and match the beam to the acceptance of the cyclotron, the beam envelope behaviour from the beginning of injection-line to the inside of the SPC2 cyclotron was investigated with different simulation programs. The transverse effects were taken into account by the beam transport codes TRANSOPTR and TRANSPORT, while the multi particle simulation code OPAL was used to include space-charge effects. Simulations of the effect of an additional buncher, operating at the second harmonic, on the transmission of the beam of charged particles through the cyclotron were made.  
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WEB01 A New Digital Low-level RF Control System for Cyclotrons 258
 
  • W. Duckitt, J. Abraham, J.L. Conradie, M.J. Van Niekerk
    iThemba LABS, Somerset West, South Africa
  • T.R. Niesler
    Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
 
  Stable control of amplitude and phase of the radio frequency (RF) system is critical to the operation of cyclotrons. It directly influences system performance, operability, reliability and beam quality. iThemba LABS operates 13 RF systems between 8 and 81 MHz and at power levels of 50 W to 150 kW. A critical drive has been to replace the 30 year old analog RF control system with modern technology. To this effect a new generic digital low-level RF control system has been designed. The system is field programmable gate array (FPGA) based and is capable of synthesizing RF signals between 5 and 100 MHz in steps of 1 μHz. It can achieve a closed-loop amplitude stability of greater than 1/10000 and a closed-loop phase stability of less than 0.01°. Furthermore, the system is fully integrated with the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) and all system and diagnostic parameters are available to the Control System Studio clients. Three prototypes of the system have been in operation since November 2014. A general analysis of RF control systems as well as the methodology of design, implementation, operational performance and future plans for the system is presented.  
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THA02 New Developments at iThemba LABS 274
 
  • J.L. Conradie, L.S. Anthony, S. Baard, R.A. Bark, A.H. Barnard, J.I. Broodryk, J.C. Cornell, J.G. De Villiers, H. Du Plessis, W. Duckitt, D.T. Fourie, P.G. Gardiner, M.E. Hogan, I.H. Kohler, C. Lussi, R.H. McAlister, J. Mira, H.W. Mostert, F. Nemulodi, G. Pfeiffer, M. Sakildien, G.F. Steyn, N. Stodart, R.W. Thomae, M.J. Van Niekerk, P.A. van Schalkwyk
    iThemba LABS, Somerset West, South Africa
  • A. Andrighetto, A. Monetti, G.P. Prete, M. Rossignoli
    INFN/LNL, Legnaro (PD), Italy
 
  iThemba LABS has been in operation for more than 30 years and is now at a stage at which refurbishment and ' in some cases ' replacement of the infrastructure and critical components is required. The replacement and refurbish-ment of the cooling system, which include the cooling tow-ers and chillers, the 4.4-MVA uninterruptable power sup-ply batteries and other critical components, are discussed. Progress with a facility for low-energy radioactive ion beams will be reported on. A proposal to remove radioiso-tope production from the separated sector cyclotron (SSC) and the production of the future radioisotopes with a com-mercial 70-MeV cyclotron to make more beam time avail-able for nuclear physics research with the SSC will also be discussed. Developments on our electron cyclotron reso-nance ion sources, the PIG ion source and low-level digital RF control system have also been carried out. Good pro-gress with integration of the existing control system to an EPICS control system has been made. The adoption of EtherCAT as our new industrial communication standard has enabled integration with much off-the-shelf motion, actuator and general interface hardware.  
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