The beam loading effect results in a gradient reduction of the accelerating structures due to the excitation of the fundamental mode when the beam travels through the cavity. A recent implementation of this process in the tracking code RF-Track allows the simulation of realistic scenarios, thus revealing the impact of this phenomenon in start-to-end accelerator designs. In this paper, we present the latest update of the beam loading module which allows the simulation of the compensation of this effect and we explore the potential of the developed tool in heavy-loaded scenarios.

X-rays in the water window (2.33 nm to 4.40 nm wavelength) can be used to provide high quality images of wet biological samples. Given the limited availability of current generation light sources in this energy range, table-top water window X-ray sources have been proposed as alternatives. We present start-to-end simulations in RF-Track of a water window X-ray source based on inverse Compton scattering. A brazing-free electron gun with a maximum beam energy of 7 MeV is considered, providing photon energies covering the full water window range. Performance estimates for the gun operating with copper and cesium telluride cathodes are presented. The cesium telluride cathode, combined with a burst mode Fabry-Perot cavity, allows for an increase in flux by orders of magnitude compared to single bunch copper cathode operation. A beamline of 1 m was determined to be sufficient to produce a high photon flux.

Many reactor-based neutron sources are planned to shut down in the near future, and this is despite the increasing demand for neutron beamlines for a wide range of scientific and industrial applications. Consequently, compact accelerator-based neutron sources arise as a competitive alternative that could meet the need for medium-flux fission or spallation sources. In this work, we explore the performance of compact electron accelerators as neutron drivers and propose a preliminary target design for an X-band electron-linac-based neutron source.

The beam loading effect results in a gradient reduction of the accelerating structures due to the excitation of the fundamental mode when the beam travels through the cavity. A recent implementation of this process in the tracking code RF-Track allows the simulation of realistic scenarios, thus revealing the impact of this phenomenon in start-to-end accelerator designs. In this paper, we present the latest update of the beam loading module which allows the simulation of the compensation of this effect and we explore the potential of the developed tool in heavy-loaded scenarios.