- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Accelerators and Beams

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

First beam test of an additively manufactured H-mode linac structure made from pure copper

Hendrik Hähnel1,*, Philipp Müller1, Jan Dominik Kaiser1, Adem Ateş1, Leonie Bauer1, Benjamin Dedić1, Ulrich Ratzinger1, Patrick Reichart2, Günther Dollinger2 et al.

Michael Mayerhofer2

  • *Contact author: haehnel@iap.uni-frankfurt.de
PDF

Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 29, 060101 – Published 5 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6fp9-dfyk

Abstract

This paper presents a high-power beam test of the first IH-type linac structure additively manufactured from pure copper performed in May 2025. The 433 MHz cavity with a total length of 20 cm has been tested up to 25 kW at a duty cycle of 2%, which corresponds to a cavity voltage of 0.86 MV with peak fields at the drift tubes reaching up to 68  MV/m without rf breakdown at full power. A 1.4 MeV proton beam from a Van de Graaff accelerator has been accelerated up to 2.212 MeV, demonstrating the effective acceleration voltage of 0.817 MV at full power. These high-power beam tests show performance on par with conventionally manufactured H-mode structures, paving the way for future linac structures benefiting from the advantages of additive manufacturing.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (43)

  1. V. Ho, L. Ladani, J. Razmi, S. Gruber, A. B. Murphy, C. Chen, D. East, and E. Lopez, Powder bed fabrication of copper: A comprehensive literature review, Metals 15, 1114 (2025).
  2. M. S. Khandpur, A. Giubilini, L. Iuliano, and P. Minetola, On the use of green and blue laser sources for powder bed fusion: State of the art review for additive manufacturing of copper and its alloys, Metals 14, 1464 (2024).
  3. T. De Terris, T. Baffie, and C. Ribière, Additive manufacturing of pure copper: A review and comparison of physical, microstructural, and mechanical properties of samples manufactured with laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF), electron beam melting (EBM) and metal fused deposition modelling (MFDM) technologies, Int. J. Mater. Form. 16, 32 (2023).
  4. H. Hähnel and U. Ratzinger, First 3D printed IH-type linac structure—Proof-of-concept for additive manufacturing of linac rf cavities, Instruments 6, 9 (2022).
  5. H. Hähnel, A. Ateş, B. Dedić, and U. Ratzinger, Additive manufacturing of an IH-type linac structure from stainless steel and pure copper, Instruments 7, 22 (2023).
  6. T. Romano, G. Pikurs, A. Ratkus, T. Torims, N. Delerue, M. Vretenar, L. Stepien, E. López, and M. Vedani, Metal additive manufacturing for particle accelerator applications, Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 27, 054801 (2024).
  7. A. Seibel, M. Breidt, T. Dettinger, J. Egly, H. Hähnel, C. Kleffner, K. Knie, U. Ratzinger, and C. Will, Welding and copper plating investigations on the FAIR proton linac, in Proceedings of the 31st International Linear Accelerator Conference LINAC-2022, Liverpool, UK (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2022), pp. 345–347, 10.18429/JACOW-LINAC2022-TUPOJO05.
  8. C. Kleffner, A. Schnase, A. Seibel, C. Muehle, C. Will, G. Schreiber, H. Hähnel, K. Knie, M. Rodionova, M. Vossberg, M. Schuett, P. Forck, R. Hettinger, S. Udrea, S. Puetz, T. Sieber, U. Ratzinger, and V. Srinivasan, Progress and status of the FAIR proton linac, in Proceedings of the 32nd International Linear Accelerator Conference LINAC-2024, Chicago, IL (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2024), pp. 387–389, 10.18429/JACOW-LINAC2024-TUPB026.
  9. H. Hoeltermann, U. Ratzinger, W. Schweizer, D. Strehl, M. Schwarz, H. Hähnel, K. Tshoo, C. Ham, D. Kwak, T. S. Shin, and D. Yoon, Technical design of an IH-type buncher for KoBRA at RAON, J. Korean Phys. Soc. 83, 589 (2023).
  10. H. Höltermann (private communication).
  11. T. Torims, G. Pikurs, S. Gruber, M. Vretenar, A. Ratkus, M. Vedani, E. López, and F. Brückner, First proof-of-concept prototype of an additive manufactured radio frequency quadrupole, Instruments 5, 35 (2021).
  12. C. Nantista, D. Gamzina, C. Ledford, T. Horn, P. Carriere, and P. Frigola, Design and test of copper printed rf cavities, in Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE 21st International Conference on Vacuum Electronics (IVEC), Monterey, CA (IEEE, New York, 2020), pp. 149–150, 10.1109/IVEC45766.2020.9520624.
  13. M. Mayerhofer, J. Mitteneder, and G. Dollinger, A 3D printed pure copper drift tube linac prototype, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 93, 023304 (2022).
  14. M. Mayerhofer, S. Brenner, E. Chyhyrynets, M. Dickmann, V. Nedeljkovic-Groha, R. Helm, D. Heußen, J. Mitteneder, C. Pira, and G. Dollinger, Laser powder bed fusion for x-band rf cavities: A preliminary study, in Proceedings of the 16th International Particle Accelerator Conference, Taipei, Taiwan (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2025), pp. 2616–2619, 10.18429/JACOW-IPAC2025-THPB052.
  15. C. Zhang, R. Böhm, E. Boos, R. Cherif, A. Japs, and S. Wunderlich, From concept to reality: Additive manufacturing in particle accelerator and storage ring R&D at GSI and for FAIR, arXiv:2509.22397.
  16. M. Mayerhofer, H. Hähnel, G. Dollinger, J. Sonpar, and R. Helm, A novel test cavity setup for surface conductivity measurements of additive manufacturing samples, in Proceedings of the 32nd Linear Accelerator Conference, LINAC-2024, Chicago, IL (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2024), pp. 363–366, 10.18429/JACOW-LINAC2024-TUPB019.
  17. A. Seltzman and S. Wukitch, RF losses in selective laser melted GRCop-84 copper waveguide for an additively manufactured lower hybrid current drive launcher, Fusion Eng. Des. 159, 111762 (2020).
  18. T. Torims, A. Cherif, N. Delerue, M. F. Pedretti, S. Gruber, D. Krogere, E. Lopez, T. Otto, G. Pikurs, M. Pozzi, A. Ratkus, M. Thielmann, M. Vedani, M. Vretenar, and P. Wagenblast, Evaluation of geometrical precision and surface roughness quality for the additively manufactured radio frequency quadrupole prototype, J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 2420, 012089 (2023).
  19. P. Rebesan, V. Candela, S. Candela, R. Dima, E. Chyhyrynets, M. Bonesso, M. Pozzi, A. Pepato, D. Ford, C. Pira, and G. Favero, Additive manufacturing of 6 GHz seamless SRF copper cavities: Printing, surface treatments and performance investigations, in Proceedings of the 14th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC-2023, Venice, Italy (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2023), pp. 4943–4946, 10.18429/JACOW-IPAC2023-THPM023.
  20. Q. M. Khan and D. Kuylenstierna, Analysis of Q-factor for AM-SLM cavity based resonators using surface roughness models, IEEE J. Multiscale Multiphys. Comput. Tech. 9, 75 (2024).
  21. H. Hähnel, A. Ratkus, D. Benjamin, C. Pira, E. Chyhyrynets, M. Pozzi, M. Vedani, M. Vretenar, N. Kunkel, R. Caforio, T. Romano, and T. Torims, Surface finishing of additive manufacturing parts for particle accelerators, in Proceedings of the 32nd Linear Accelerator Conference, LINAC-2024, Chicago, IL (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2024), pp. 367–370, 10.18429/JACOW-LINAC2024-TUPB020.
  22. S. Gruber, L. Stepien, E. López, F. Brueckner, and C. Leyens, Physical and geometrical properties of additively manufactured pure copper samples using a green laser source, Materials 14, 3642 (2021).
  23. Q. Jiang, P. Zhang, Z. Yu, H. Shi, D. Wu, H. Yan, X. Ye, Q. Lu, and Y. Tian, A review on additive manufacturing of pure copper, Coatings 11, 740 (2021).
  24. S. Kurennoy, L. Rybarcyk, and T. Wangler, Efficient accelerating structures for low-energy light IONS, in Proceedings of the 22nd Particle Accelerator Conference, PAC-2007, Albuquerque, NM (IEEE, New York, 2007), pp. 3824–3826, 10.1109/PAC.2007.4439921.
  25. S. S. Kurennoy, L. J. Rybarcyk, J. F. O’Hara, E. R. Olivas, and T. P. Wangler, H-mode accelerating structures with permanent-magnet quadrupole beam focusing, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 15, 090101 (2012).
  26. R. Tang, C. Du, X. Guan, Y. Lei, J. Li, P. Ma, K. Man, C. Tang, X. Wang, Q. Xing, W. Ye, H. Zhang, and S.-X. Zheng, Tuning and low power test of the 325 MHz IH-DTL at Tsinghua University, in Proceedings of the 29th Linear Accelerator Conf. (LINAC’18), Beijing, China (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2018), pp. 759–762, 10.18429/JACOW-LINAC2018-THPO035.
  27. P. Ma, R. Tang, Y. Yang, S. X. Zheng, W. B. Ye, M. W. Wang, W. L. Liu, B. C. Wang, Q. Z. Xing, C. T. Du, H. Y. Zhang, J. Li, X. L. Guan, X. W. Wang, Z. M. Wang, and M. T. Qiu, Development of a compact 325 MHz proton interdigital H-mode drift tube linac with high shunt impedance, Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 24, 020101 (2021).
  28. Y. Nakazawa, E. Cicek, K. Futatsukawa, Y. Fuwa, N. Hayashizaki, T. Iijima, H. Iinuma, Y. Iwata, Y. Kondo, T. Mibe, S. Mizobata, T. Morishita, M. Otani, Y. Sue, Y. Takeuchi, and J. Tojo, High-power test of an interdigital H-mode drift tube linac for the J-PARC muon g−2 and electric dipole moment experiment, Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 25, 110101 (2022).
  29. U. Ratzinger, H. Hähnel, R. Tiede, J. Kaiser, and A. Almomani, Combined zero degree structure beam dynamics and applications, Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 22, 114801 (2019).
  30. R. Tiede, G. Clemente, H. Podlech, U. Ratzinger, A. Sauer, and S. Minaev, lorasr code development, in Proceedings of the 10th European Particle Accelerator Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2006 (EPS-AG, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2006), pp. 2194–2196.
  31. R. Tiede, D. Mäder, N. F. Petry, H. Podlech, U. Ratzinger, and C. Zhang, Improvements of the lorasr code and their impact on current beam dynamics designs, in Proceedings of the 27th International Conference, LINAC-2014, Geneva, Switzerland (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2014), pp. 569–571.
  32. D. Uriot and N. Pichoff, Status of tracewin code, in Proceedings of the 6th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC-2015, Richmond, VA (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2015), 10.18429/JACOW-IPAC2015-MOPWA008.
  33. Dassault Systemes, simulia cst studio suite (including cst microwave studio), Available at https://www.3ds.com/products/simulia/cst-studio-suite (2025).
  34. H. Hähnel, A. Ates, B. Dedic, C. Wagner, J. Kaiser, and U. Ratzinger, RF conditioning of an IH-DTL cavity made using additive manufacturing, in Proceedings of the 15th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC-2024, Nashville, TN (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2024), pp. 3501–3504, 10.18429/JACOW-IPAC2024-THPR10.
  35. H. Hähnel, P. Müller, J. Kaiser, A. Ates, B. Dedic, U. Ratzinger, and C. Wagner, Further high power tests of the additive manufacturing IH-type cavity, in Proceedings of the 16th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC-2025, Taipei, Taiwan (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2025), pp. 1666–1669, 10.18429/JACOW-IPAC2025-WEAD3.
  36. , A hybrid LINAC low level rf control system for FRANZ, in Proceedings of the 16th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC-2025, Taipei, Taiwan (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2025), pp. 3203–3205, 10.18429/JACOW-IPAC2025-THPS116.
  37. , MNDACS—Mesh networked data acquisition and control system, in Proceedings of the 16th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC-2025, Taipei, Taiwan (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2025), pp. 3200–3202, 10.18429/JACOW-IPAC2025-THPS115.
  38. J. Kaiser, A. Ates, and H. Hähnel, Development of a compact rf coupler utilizing additive manufacturing, in Proceedings of 32nd Linear Accelerator Conference, LINAC-2024, Chicago, IL (JACoW, Geneva, Switzerland, 2024), pp. 375–378, 10.18429/JACOW-LINAC2024-TUPB022.
  39. J. F. Ziegler, SRIM—The stopping and range of ions in matter, Available at http://www.srim.org (2013) [accessed August 2025].
  40. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Pstar: Stopping power and range tables for protons, Available at https://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Star/Text/PSTAR.html [accessed August 2025].
  41. Mesytec GmbH & Co. KG, Mesytec—Detector readout systems (2025), https://www.mesytec.com/ [accessed October 27, 2025].
  42. T. Heftrich (private communication).
  43. M. Mayerhofer, A. Bergmaier, G. Datzmann, H. Hagn, R. Helm, J. Mitteneder, R. Schubert, L. Picardi, P. Nenzi, C. Ronsivalle, H.-F. Wirth, and G. Dollinger, Concept and performance evaluation of two 3 GHz buncher units optimizing the dose rate of a novel preclinical proton minibeam irradiation facility, PLoS One 16, e0258477 (2021).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 29, 060101– Published 5 June, 2026
  • Received 7 November 2025
  • Accepted 2 April 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation