High energy ion channeling - Principles and typical applications

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Swift Highly Charged Ion Channelling

We review recent experimental and theoretical progress made in the scope of swift highly charged ion channelling in crystals. The usefulness of such studies is their ability to yield impact parameter information on charge transfer processes, and also on some time related problems. We discuss the cooling and heating phenomena at MeV/u energies, results obtained with decelerated H-like ion beams at GSI and with ions having an excess of electrons at GANIL, the superdensity effect along atomic strings and Resonant Coherent Excitation.Comment: to be published in Journal of Physics

Technical Analysis and Statistics from Long Term Helium Cryoplant Operation with Experimental Superconducting Magnets at CERN

CERN regularly uses a large number of liquid helium cryoplants for cooling the superconducting magnets of large particle detectors. They are installed in the experimental areas of the electron-positron collider LEP and the proton (and heavy ion) accelerator SPS for the observation of high-energy interactions of elementary particles. The typical cold mass of a detector magnet ranges from 1 to 40 tons, and typical cryoplant cooling capacities are between 400 and 800 W/4.5 K entropy equivalent. Operation must be very flexible to meet the varying experimental requirements. We intend to present technical data of the system and statistics from over 180'000 running hours during the four years from 1992 to 1995. Operation includes phases of cool-down, steady-state cooling, recovery after magnet quench or other incidents and warm-up of the superconducting magnets. Emphasis will be laid on the analysis of fault conditions, multiple interaction between perturbations and consequences for the users of liquid helium supply interruption

New methods of real-time control imaging for ion therapy

to be published in the proceedings of the NIRS-ETOILE joint symposium on carbon ion therapy, Lyon, 16-17 mars 2009We present the ongoing studies aiming at providing a real-time control of the dose distribution during ion therapy. These studies are undertaken in the frame of the National and Rhône-Alpes Regional Research Programs for Hadontherapy. We aim at implementing combined modalities for real-time quality control of the deposited dose for future therapy centers. Several modalities are under development within this research program. Improvements on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) can be obtained by means of Time of Flight, using fast scintillators or resistive plate chambers, with dedicated readout and electronics. The in-bream prompt gamma imaging looks very promising in view of recent preliminary results, provided Time of Flight is used to discriminate gamma from neutrons and scattered particles. A collimated detection setup or a Compton camera is envisaged. Prompt emission of light charged particles like protons is also discussed

Conclusions from 12 Years Operational Experience of the Cryoplants for the Superconducting Magnets of the LEP Experiments

The Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) has ended its last physics run in November 2000, and it is at present being dismantled to liberate the tunnel for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project to be completed by end of 2005. The cryogenic systems for the superconducting solenoid and focusing quadrupoles for the two LEP experiments, ALEPH and DELPHI, each supplying a cooling power of 800 W/4.5 K entropy equivalent, have accumulated more then 100'000 hours of running time. The paper summarises the 12 years cryogenic experience in the various operating modes: cool-down, steady state, recovery after energy fast dump, utilities failures and warm-up of the superconducting magnets. The detailed operation statistics is presented and compared to the other CERN cryogenic systems. Emphasis is given to the technical analysis of the fault conditions and of their consequences on the helium refrigeration production time in view of the future operation of the LHC cryogenics

Front-end multi-channel PMT-associated readout chip for hodoscope application

International audienceThe system development requires a dedicated multi-channel readout ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) to be associated with the MaPMTs. Each channel should have very low input impedance to avoid electrical crosstalk between adjacent channels and to minimize effects of detector and wiring capacitances (Cd + Cw). Crosstalk between channels may degrade position resolution, while these capacitances may degrade both frequency and noise performances. Each channel should also provide two separated outputs corresponding respectively to high-speed signal-event detection and low-noise signal-charge quantification at low counting rate. This paper presents a readout chip for this purpose. It has been designed in a 0.35µm SiGe BiCMOS process (AMS). This process allows the use of RF and large-transconductance bipolar components, which is useful for the design of wide-band, low-impedance and low-noise circuits with improved performances

New Long-term Historical Data Recording and Failure Analysis System for the CERN Cryoplants

CERN uses several liquid helium cryoplants (total of 21) for cooling large variety of superconducting devices namely: accelerating cavities, magnets for accelerators and particle detectors. The cryoplants are remotely operated from several control rooms using industrial standard supervision systems, which allows the instant display of all plant data and the trends, over several days, for the most important signals. The monitoring of the cryoplant performance during transient conditions and normal operation over several months asks for a long-term recording of all plant parameters. An historical data recording system has been developed, which collects data from all cryoplants, stores them in a centralized database over a period of one year and allows an user-friendly graphical visualization. In particular, a novel tool was developed for debugging causes of plant failures by comparing selected reference data with the simultaneous evolution of all plant data. The paper describes the new system, already in operation with 11 cryoplants

Statistical effects of dose deposition in track-structure modelling of radiobiology efficiency

Ion-induced cell killing has been reported to depend on the irradiation dose but also on the projectile parameters. In this paper we focus on two approaches developed and extensively used to predict cell survival in response to ion irradiation: the Local Effect Model and the Katz Model. These models are based on a track-structure description summarized in the concept of radial dose. This latter is sensitive to ion characteristics parameters and gives to both models the ability to predict some important radiobiological features for ion irradiations. Radial dose is however an average quantity, which does not include stochastic effects. These radiation-intrinsic effects are investigated by means of a Monte-Carlo simulation of dose deposition. We show that both models are not fully consistent with the nanometric and microscopic dose deposition statistics.Comment: 32 pages ; 8 figure