43 research outputs found
Beam Dynamics Studies and Design Optimisation of New Low Energy Antiproton Facilities
Antiprotons, stored and cooled at low energies in a storage ring or at rest
in traps, are highly desirable for the investigation of a large number of basic
questions on fundamental interactions. This includes the static structure of
antiprotonic atomic systems and the time-dependent quantum dynamics of
correlated systems. The Antiproton Decelerator (AD) at CERN is currently the
worlds only low energy antiproton factory dedicated to antimatter experiments.
New antiproton facilities, such as the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA)
at CERN and the Ultra-low energy Storage Ring (USR) at FLAIR, will open unique
possibilities. They will provide cooled, high quality beams of extra-low energy
antiprotons at intensities exceeding those achieved presently at the AD by
factors of ten to one hundred. These facilities, operating in the energy regime
between 100 keV down to 20 keV, face several design and beam dynamics
challenges, for example nonlinearities, space charge and scattering effects
limiting beam life time. Detailed investigations into the low energy and long
term beam dynamics have been carried out to address many of those challenges
towards the design optimisation. Results from these studies are presented in
this contribution, showing some examples for ELENA.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 12th International Conference on Low Energy
Antiproton Physics, LEAP 2016. Submitted to JPS Conference Proceeding
Beam characterisation studies of the 62 MeV proton therapy beamline at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (CCC) in the United Kingdom is the world's first hospital proton beam therapy facility, providing treatment for ocular cancers since 1989. A 62Â MeV beam of protons is produced by a Scanditronix cyclotron and transported through a passive delivery system. In addition to the long history of clinical use, the facility supports a wide programme of experimental work and as such, an accurate and reliable simulation model of the treatment beamline is highly valuable. However, as the facility has seen several changes to the accelerator and beamline over the years, a comprehensive study of the CCC beam dynamics is needed to firstly examine the beam optics. An extensive analysis was required to overcome facility related constraints to determine fundamental beamline parameters and define an optical lattice written with the Methodical Accelerator Design (MAD-X) and the particle tracking Beam Delivery Simulation (BDSIM) code. An optimised case is presented and simulated results of the optical functions, beam distribution, losses and the transverse rms beam sizes along the beamline are discussed. Corresponding optical and beam information was used in TOPAS to simulate transverse beam profiles and compared to EBT3 film measurements. We provide an overview of the magnetic components, beam transport, cyclotron, beam and treatment related parameters necessary for the development of a present day optical model of the facility. This work represents the first comprehensive study of the CCC facility to date, as a basis to determine input beam parameters to accurately simulate and completely characterise the beamline
TeV/m catapult acceleration of electrons in graphene layers (vol 13, 1330, 2023)
The original version of this Article contained an error in the legend of Figure 1. âOverview of the catapult electron acceleration scheme in graphene layers. Moving from left to right, as indicated by the blue arrows, a single 3 fs-long laser pulse of 100 nm wavelength and 1021 W/cm2 peak intensity, ionizes a 1.5 ÎŒm-long (y) and 1.2 ÎŒm-thick (x) stack of graphene layers. The interaction results in self-injected electrons being accelerated to â 7 MeV. The image is at scale, with a 150 nm bar drawn, and for better visibility, only 15 out of 60 graphene layers are shown. The simulated normalized transverse electric field (Ex) is shown as a surface colour plot for the same laser pulse before entering the target (left) and after leaving the target (right). This work contains 2D PIC simulations carried out in the yx-plane indicated in the image.â now reads: âOverview of the catapult electron acceleration scheme in graphene layers. Moving from left to right, as indicated by the blue arrows, a single 3 fs-long laser pulse of 100 nm wavelength and 1021 W/cm2 peak intensity, ionizes a 1.5 ÎŒm-long (y) and 1.2 ÎŒm-thick (x) stack of graphene layers. The interaction results in self-injected electrons being accelerated to â 7 MeV. The image is at scale, and for better visibility, only 15 out of 60 graphene layers are shown. The simulated normalized transverse electric field (Ex) is shown as a surface colour plot for the same laser pulse before entering the target (left) and after leaving the target (right). This work contains 2D PIC simulations carried out in the yx-plane indicated in the image.â The original Article has been corrected
Noninvasive 3D Field Mapping of Complex Static Electric Fields
Many upcoming experiments in antimatter research require low-energy antiproton beams. With a kinetic energy in the order of 100 keV, the standard magnetic components to control and focus the beams become less effective. Therefore, electrostatic components are being developed and installed in transfer lines and storage rings. However, there is no equipment available to precisely map and check the electric field generated by these elements. Instead, one has to trust in simulations and, therefore, depend on tight fabrication tolerances. Here we present, for the first time, a noninvasive way to experimentally probe the electrostatic field in a 3D volume with a microsensor. Using the example of an electrostatic quadrupole focusing component, we find excellent agreement between a simulated and real field. Furthermore, it is shown that the spatial resolution of the probe is limited by the electric field curvature which is almost zero for the quadrupole. With a sensor resolution of 61V/m/âHz, the field deviation due to a noncompliance with the tolerances can be resolved. We anticipate that this compact and practical field strength probe will be relevant also for other scientific and technological disciplines such as atmospheric electricity or safeguarding near power infrastructure
Improving girlsâ perception of computer science as a viable career option through game playing and design: Lessons from a systematic literature review
The objective of exposing girls to Computer Science as a career option has led to research directed towards gaming activities for girls. These activities include both game play and game design. Research about gaming activities for increasing girlsâ interest in computer science has gained much attention over the past few years and has resulted in a number of contributions. We follow up with an overview of the status of research through a Systematic Literature Review. We investigate the relation between the various game playing or designing activities and their impact on girlsâ perception of Computer Science as a career choice. We further present the design consideration for the games and related activities to potentially improve the perception of girls towards a Computer Science career. The applied method is a Systematic Literature Review through which we investigate which contributions were made, which knowledge areas were most explored, and which research facets have been used. We identify 25 papers to distill a common understanding of the state-of-the-art. Specifically, we investigate the effects that the game play/design activities had on girlsâ perception about Computer Science; and what are the key design factors to be kept in mind while designing a serious game to improve girlsâ perception about Computer Science. The results of this systematic literature review show that game playing or designing could indeed improve how girls perceive having a career in CS. The key aspects that such activities require are personalizing, opportunity for collaboration and the presence of a female lead characterThis work has been done during the tenure of an ERCIM Alain Bensoussan fellowshi