Sharp dose profiles for high precision proton therapy using focused proton beams

Proton beam therapy has been developed to irradiate the tumor with higher precision and dose conformity compared to conventional X-ray irradiation. The dose conformity of this treatment modality may be further improved if narrower proton beams are used. Still, this is limited by multiple Coulomb scattering of protons through tissue. The primary aim of this work was to develop techniques to produce narrow proton beams and investigate the resulting dose profiles. We introduced and assessed three different proton beam shaping techniques: 1) metal collimators (100/150~MeV), 2) focusing of conventional- (100/150~MeV), and 3) focusing of high-energy (350~MeV, shoot-through) proton beams. Focusing was governed by the initial value of the Twiss parameter $\alpha$~($\alpha_0$), and can be implemented with magnetic particle accelerator optics. The dose distributions in water were calculated by Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4, and evaluated by target to surface dose ratio (TSDR) in addition to the transverse beam size~($\sigma_T$) at the target. The target was defined as the location of the Bragg peak or the focal point. The different techniques showed greatly differing dose profiles, where focusing gave pronouncedly higher relative target dose and efficient use of primary protons. Metal collimators with radii ~3.6~mm). In contrast, a focused beam of conventional (150~MeV) energy produced a very high TSDR (>~80) with similar $\sigma_T$ as a collimated beam. High-energy focused beams were able to produce TSDRs > 100 and $\sigma_T$ around 1.5~mm. From this study, it appears very attractive to implement magnetically focused proton beams in radiotherapy of small lesions or tumors in close vicinity to healthy organs at risk. This can also lead to a paradigm change in spatially fractionated radiotherapy.Comment: Submitted to Scientific Report

CLIC Wake Field Monitor as a detuned Cavity Beam Position Monitor: Explanation of center offset between TE and TM channels in the TD26 structure

The Wake Field Monitor (WFM) system installed on the CLIC prototype accelerating structure in CERN Linear Accelerator for Research (CLEAR) has two channels for each horizontal/vertical plane, operating at different frequencies. When moving the beam relative to the aperture of the structure, a disagreement is observed between the center position of the structure as measured with the two channels in each plane. This is a challenge for the planned use of WFMs in the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC), where they will be used to measure the center offset between the accelerating structures and the beam. Through a mixture of simulations and measurements, we have discovered a potential mechanism for this, which is discussed along with implications for improving position resolution near the structure center, and the possibility determination of the sign of the beam offset.Comment: 16 pages, 20 figure

Prediction of Beam Losses during Crab Cavity Quenches at the HL-LHC

Studies of the crab cavities at KEKB revealed that the RF phase could shift by up to 50o within ~50 us during a quench; while the cavity voltage is still at approximately 75% of its nominal amplitude. If such a failure were to occur on the HL-LHC crab cavities, it is likely that the machine would sustain substantial damage to the beam line and surrounding infrastructure due to uncontrolled beam loss before the machine protection system could dump the beam. We have developed a low-level RF system model, including detuning mechanisms and beam loading, and use this to simulate the behaviour of a crab cavity during a quench, modeling the low-level RF system, detuning mechanisms and beam loading. We supplement this with measurement data of the actual RF response of the proof of principle Double-Quarter Wave Crab Cravity during a quench. Extrapolating these measurements to the HL-LHC, we show that Lorentz Force detuning is the dominant effect leading to phase shifts in the crab cavity during quenches; rather than pressure detuning which is expected to be dominant for the KEKB crab cavities. The total frequency shift for the HL-LHC crab cavities during quenches is expected to be about 460 Hz, leading to a phase shift of no more than 3o. The results of the quench model are read into a particle tracking simulation, SixTrack, and used to determine the effect of quenches on the HL-LHC beam. The quench model has been benchmarked against the KEKB experimental measurements. In this paper we present the results of the simulations on a crab cavity failure for HL-LHC as well as for the SPS and show that beam loss is negligible when using a realistic low-level RF response.Comment: 21 Pages, 22 figures, Submitted to PRA

Prediction of Beam Losses during Crab Cavity Quenches at the High Luminosity LHC

Studies of the crab cavities at KEKB revealed that the RF phase could shift by up to 50o within ~50 μs during a quench; while the cavity voltage is still at approximately 75% of its nominal amplitude. If such a failure were to occur on the HL-LHC crab cavities, it is likely that the machine would sustain substantial damage to the beam line and surrounding infrastructure due to uncontrolled beam loss before the machine protection system could dump the beam. We have developed a low-level RF system model, including detuning mechanisms and beam loading, and use this to simulate the behaviour of a crab cavity during a quench, modeling the low-level RF system, detuning mechanisms and beam loading. We supplement this with measurement data of the actual RF response of the proof of principle Double-Quarter Wave Crab Cravity during a quench. Extrapolating these measurements to the HL-LHC, we show that Lorentz Force detuning is the dominant effect leading to phase shifts in the crab cavity during quenches; rather than pressure detuning which is expected to be dominant for the KEKB crab cavities. The total frequency shift for the HL-LHC crab cavities during quenches is expected to be about 460 Hz, leading to a phase shift of no more than 3o. The results of the quench model are read into a particle tracking simulation, SixTrack, and used to determine the effect of quenches on the HL-LHC beam. The quench model has been benchmarked against the KEKB experimental measurements. In this paper we present the results of the simulations on a crab cavity failure for HL-LHC as well as for the SPS and show that beam loss is negligible when using a realistic low-level RF response

2D ArcPIC Code Description: Description of Methods and User / Developer Manual (second edition)

Vacuum discharges are one of the main limiting factors for future linear collider designs such as that of the Compact LInear Collider (CLIC). To optimize machine efficiency, maintaining the highest feasible accelerating gradient below a certain breakdown rate is desirable; understanding breakdowns can therefore help us to achieve this goal. As a part of ongoing theoretical research on vacuum discharges at the Helsinki Institute of Physics, the build-up of plasma can be investigated through the particle-in-cell method. For this purpose, we have developed the 2D ArcPIC code introduced here. We present an exhaustive description of the 2D ArcPIC code in several parts. In the first chapter, we introduce the particle-in-cell method in general and detail the techniques used in the code. In the second chapter, we describe the code and provide a documentation and derivation of the key equations occurring in it. In the third chapter, we describe utilities for running the code and analyzing the results. The last chapter contains suggestions for viable and useful avenues for further work on the code. The code and documentation are original work of the authors, written in 2010–2014, and is therefore under the copyright of the authors

The CLICopti RF structure parameter estimator

This document describes the CLICopti RF structure parameter estimator. This is a C++ library which makes it possible to quickly estimate the parameters of an RF structure from its length, apertures, tapering, and basic cell type. Typical estimated parameters are the input power required to reach a certain voltage with a given beam current, the maximum safe pulse length for a given input power and the minimum bunch spacing in RF cycles allowed by a given long-range wake limit. The document describes the implemented physics, usage of the library through its Application Programming Interface (API) and the relation between the different parts of the library. Also discussed is how the library is checked for correctness, and the example programs included with the sources are described

New Criterion for Shape Optimization of Normal-Conducting Accelerator Cells for High-Gradient Applications

When optimizing the shape of high-gradient accelerating cells, the goal has traditionally been to minimize the peak surface electric field / gradient, or more recently minimizing the peak modified Poynting vector / gradient squared. This paper presents a method for directly comparing these quan- tities, as well as the power flow per circumference / gradient squared. The method works by comparing the maximum tolerable gradient at a fixed pulse length and breakdown rate that can be expected from the different constraints. The paper also presents a set of 120° phase-advance cells for traveling wave structures, which were designed for the new CLIC main linac accelerating structure, and which are optimized according to these criteria

Breakdown localization in the fixed gap system

Accurate localization of breakdowns in vacuum could help shed light on breakdown related processes that are not yet fully understood. At the DC spark lab at CERN, an instrument called the Fixed Gap System (FGS) has been developed partially for this purpose. Among other things, the FGS has four built-in antennas, which are intended for breakdown localization. The capability of this aspect of the FGS was explored in this report. Specifically, the feasibility of using a method similar to that which is used in cavity Beam Position Monitors (BPMs) was investigated. The usable frequency range of the current experimental setup was also studied. Firstly, a modal analysis of the inner geometry of the FGS was done in HFSS. This showed that the two first modes to be expected in the spark gap quite differ from those of the ideal pillbox – both in field pattern and in frequency ( 4 and 6 GHz vs. 0.2 and 3 GHz). Secondly, S-parameters of the system were measured. These showed that the coupling between antennas is weak below 13 GHz, which is due to the high cut-off frequency of the waveguides in which the antennas are located. The breakdown signal was also measured using an oscilloscope connected to the antennas. However, it was determined that the detected signal was picked up from outside of the system, rendering it useless for localization purposes. It was concluded that either a new approach has to be adopted or the current system must be modified

Design of waveguide damped cells for 12 GHz high gradient accelerating structures

This document describes the design procedure and numerical techniques used to optimize waveguidedamped traveling wave accelerating structure cells for high gradients, and characterize their wakefields. All simulations where made using ACE3P. The document also contains the design data for a collection of such cells operating at accelerating mode frequency = 11.9942 GHz and 120° phase-advance. This collection of highly optimized cells is created for use with the fast RF structure parameter estimator CLICopti, which is used for CLIC rebaselinin

Beam–based alignment of the CLIC high-gradient X-Band accelerating structure using beam-screen

An experimental campaign has been carried out at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in order to estimate the wakefield kick in the X-Band accelerating structure of the future Compact LInear Collider (CLIC). The CLIC Project, currently under study, is an electron-positron collider with centre of mass energy of 3 TeV and an instantaneous luminosity of 2 × 1034cm-2s-1. The X-Band accelerating structures are able to sustain an accelerating gradient of 100 MV/m. The wakefield kick is an electromagnetic field perturbing the particle bunch. This campaign is carried out at the CERN Linear Electron Accelerator for Research (CLEAR). A beam-based method to align the accelerating structure to the beam trajectory with the use of a beam-screen is proposed in order to estimate the transverse wakefield kick. Aligning such a structure to the beam trajectory, with an accuracy of 3.5 μm, is a key point to achieve the above luminosity