GSI, Darmstadt, Germany
HIJ, Jena, Germany
An impressive advantage of Laser Ion Sources is an extremely high beam brilliance. The LIGHT project (Laser Ion Generation, Handling and Transport) is dedicated to the production of protons (ions), accelerated up to 10 MeV by using the GSI PHELIX laser at GSI, and injected into a conventional accelerator. A successful experimental campaign stimulated further investigation of the focusing, transport and collimation of the high energy and high brilliance proton beam. In addition to the advanced codes, describing the very early expansion phase of the proton-electron cloud, the versatile multiparticle code DYNAMION was implemented to perform beam dynamics simulations for different possible transport lines. Potentially transport lines compraises magnetic quadrupole lenses and/or solenoids for transverse beam focusing. A bunch rotation rf cavity decreasing the energy spread of the protons was included into the simulations. The results of the beam dynamics simulations are presented, as well as benchmarking activities with other codes. Further developments of the experimental test stand and the different possibilities of its integration to the GSI accelerators chain are discussed.
GSI, Darmstadt, Germany
IAP, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
A modern linear accelerator of ions is a long chain of different accelerating-focusing structures. The design of new linacs, as well as an upgrade and optimization of operating facilities, requires precise and reliable beam matching with the subsequent sections. Proper matching of the beam to the channel allows to improve the performance of the whole linac and to reduce the specific costs. Additionally it helps to avoide particle loss in high energy high intensity linacs. Generally a matching algorithm combines precisely measured or calculated accelerating-focusing external fields and experimentally obtained details of the beam parameters with an advanced code for beam dynamics simulations including space charge effects. Experimental results are introduced into a code as input data. The described algorithm has already been successfully implemented for several GSI projects: an upgrade of the GSI heavy ion linac UNILAC, an ion linac for the cancer therapy, the proton linac for the FAIR facility, a facility for laser acceleration of ions and others. Measured data and results of beam dynamics simulations leading to an achieved improvement of the linac performance are presented.