The frequency multiplication effects in high-power free-electron masers (FEM) with Bragg cavities were studied to provide the advance of the oscillators into short-wavelength bands. Theoretical analysis of frequency-multiplying FEMs was carried out within the framework of the averaged coupled-wave approach. Proof-of-principle experiments were performed based on a moderately relativistic induction linac LIU-3000 (JINR). As a result, an FEM multiplier operated with a megawatt power level in the 6-mm and 4-mm wavelength bands at the second and third harmonics, respectively, was realized. The possibility of using two-mode bichromatic FEMs for powering a double-frequency accelerating structure was discussed.

One of the major advantages of proton or ion beams, applied in cancer treatment, is their excellent depth-dose profile exhibiting a low dose in the entrance channel and a distinct dose maximum (Bragg peak) near the end of range in tissue. In the region of the Bragg peak, where the protons or ions are almost stopped, experimental studies with low-energy particle beams and thin biological samples may contribute valuable information on the biological effectiveness in the stopping region. Such experiments, however, require beam optimization and special dosimetry techniques for determining the absolute dose and dose homogeneity for very thin biological samples. At the National Centre of Accelerators in Seville, one of the beam lines at the 3 MV Tandem Accelerator was equipped with a scattering device, a special parallel-plate ionization chamber with very thin electrode foils and target holders for cell cultures. In this work, we present the calibration in absolute dose of EBT3 films [Gafchromic radiotherapy films, http://www.ashland.com/products/gafchromic-radiotherapy-films] for proton energies in the region of the Bragg peak, where the linear energy transfer increases and becomes more significant for radiobiology studies, as well as the response of the EBT3 films for different proton energy values. To irradiate the films in the Bragg peak region, the energy of the beam was degraded passively, by interposing Mylar foils of variable thickness to place the Bragg peak inside the active layer of the film. The results obtained for the beam degraded in Mylar foils are compared with the dose calculated by means of the measurement of the beam fluence with an ionization chamber and the energy loss predicted by srim2008 code.

We analyze an optical phenomenon taking place in waveguide free-electron lasers, which disturbs, or forbids, operation in far infrared range. Waveguides in the optical cavity are used in far-infrared and THz ranges in order to avoid diffraction optical losses, and a hole coupling on output mirror is used for laser extraction. We show that, when the length of the waveguide exceeds a given limit, a phenomenon of “mode disorder” appears in the cavity, which makes the laser difficult, or impossible, to work properly. This phenomenon is even more important when the waveguide covers the whole length of the cavity. A numerical simulation describes this effect, which creates discontinuities of the laser power in the spectral domain. We show an example with an existing infrared Free-Electron Laser, which exhibits such discontinuities of the power, and where no convincing explanation was proposed until now.

The development of novel target concepts is crucial to make laser-driven acceleration of ion beams suitable for applications. We tested double-layer targets formed of an ultralow density nanostructured carbon layer ($\sim 7{\mathrm{mg}/\mathrm{cm}}^3$, $8–12\mu \mathrm{m}$–thick) deposited on a $\mu \mathrm{m}$–thick solid Al foil. A systematic increase in the total number of the accelerated ions (protons and ${\mathrm{C}}^{6+}$) as well as enhancement of both their maximum and average energies was observed with respect to bare solid foil targets. Maximum proton energies up to 30 MeV were recorded. Dedicated three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations were in remarkable agreement with the experimental results, giving clear indication of the role played by the target nanostructures in the interaction process.

A muon collider or Higgs factory requires significant reduction of the six dimensional emittance of the beam prior to acceleration. One method to accomplish this involves building a cooling channel using high pressure gas filled radio frequency cavities. The performance of such a cavity when subjected to an intense particle beam must be investigated before this technology can be validated. To this end, a high pressure gas filled radio frequency (rf) test cell was built and placed in a 400 MeV beam line from the Fermilab linac to study the plasma evolution and its effect on the cavity. Hydrogen, deuterium, helium and nitrogen gases were studied. Additionally, sulfur hexafluoride and dry air were used as dopants to aid in the removal of plasma electrons. Measurements were made using a variety of beam intensities, gas pressures, dopant concentrations, and cavity rf electric fields, both with and without a 3 T external solenoidal magnetic field. Energy dissipation per electron-ion pair, electron-ion recombination rates, ion-ion recombination rates, and electron attachment times to ${\mathrm{SF}}_6$ and ${\mathrm{O}}_2$ were measured.

We present a novel method of reducing the footprint and increasing the efficiency of the modern multi-MW rf pulse compressor. This system utilizes a high power rf polarizer to couple two circular waveguide modes in quadrature to a single resonant cavity in order to replicate the response of a traditional two cavity configuration using a 4-port hybrid. The 11.424 GHz, high-Q, spherical cavity has a 5.875 cm radius and is fed by the circularly polarized signal to simultaneously excite the degenerate $T{E}_{114}$ modes. The overcoupled spherical cavity has a $Q_0$ of $9.4\times {10}^4$ and coupling factor ($\beta$) of 7.69 thus providing a loaded quality factor $Q_L$ of $1.06\times {10}^4$ with a fill time of 150 ns. Cold tests of the polarizer demonstrated good agreement with the numerical design, showing transmission of $-0.05\mathrm{dB}$ and reflection back to the input rectangular WR 90 waveguide less than $-40\mathrm{dB}$ over a 100 MHz bandwidth. This novel rf pulse compressor was tested at SLAC using XL-4 Klystron that provided rf power up to 32 MW and generated peak output power of 205 MW and an average of 135 MW over the discharged signal. A general network analysis of the polarizer is discussed as well as the design and high power test of the rf pulse compressor.

A new design of dual circular polarizer is presented in this paper. This innovative design converts radiofrequency (rf) energy from TE10 mode in a rectangular waveguide to two polarized TE11 modes in a circular waveguide. A reflection less than $-20\mathrm{db}$ is achieved and breakdown field is less than $42\mathrm{MV}/\mathrm{m}$ at input of 1 MW. Meanwhile, this polarizer has a megahertz bandwidth, and the thermal stability is also discussed. This device can be used for broadcasting and receiving the circular polarized signals.

A new method for diagnosing the temporal characteristics of ultrashort electron bunches with linear energy chirp generated from a laser wakefield accelerator is described. When the ionization-injected bunch interacts with the back of the drive laser, it is deflected and stretched along the direction of the electric field of the laser. Upon exiting the plasma, if the bunch goes through a narrow slit in front of the dipole magnet that disperses the electrons in the plane of the laser polarization, it can form a series of bunchlets that have different energies but are separated by half a laser wavelength. Since only the electrons that are undeflected by the laser go through the slit, the energy spectrum of the bunch is modulated. By analyzing the modulated energy spectrum, the shots where the bunch has a linear energy chirp can be recognized. Consequently, the energy chirp and beam current profile of those bunches can be reconstructed. This method is demonstrated through particle-in-cell simulations and experiment.

A procedure to obtain a ratio of beam radii at final and initial states in arbitrary particle distributions is proposed, and is applied to the estimation of possible emittance growth for Gaussian and thermal equilibrium distributions. The ratios are estimated for Gaussian and thermal equilibrium distributions as a function of tune depression. The possible emittance growth as a function of tune depression and nonlinear field energy factor is also estimated with and without a constant radius ratio approximation. It is confirmed that the possible emittance growths are almost the same in comparison to the cases with and without the constant radius ratio approximation at each distribution.

In particle accelerators the process of beam absorption is vital. At CERN particle beams are accelerated at energies of the order of TeV. In the event of a system failure or following collisions, the beam needs to be safely absorbed by dedicated protecting blocks. The thermal shock caused by the rapid energy deposition within the absorbing block causes thermal stresses that may rise above critical levels. The present paper provides a convenient expression of such stresses under hypotheses described hereafter. The temperature field caused by the beam energy deposition is assumed to be Gaussian. Such a field models a non-diffusive heat deposition. These effects are described as thermoelastic as long as the stresses remain below the proportional limit and can be analytically modeled by the coupled equations of thermoelasticity. The analytical solution to the uncoupled thermoelastic problem in an infinite domain is presented herein and matched with a finite unit radius sphere. The assumption of zero diffusion as well as the validity of the match with a finite geometry is quantified such that the obtained solutions can be rigorously applied to real problems. Furthermore, truncated series solutions, which are not novel, are used for comparison purposes. All quantities are nondimensional and the problem reduces to a dependence of five dimensionless parameters. The equations of elasticity are presented in the potential formulation where the shear potential is assumed to be nil due to the source being a gradient and the absence of boundaries. Nevertheless equivalent three-dimensional stresses are computed using the compressive potential and optimized using standard analytical optimization methods. An alternative algorithm for finding the critical points of the three-dimensional stress function is presented. Finally, a case study concerning the proton synchrotron booster dump is presented where the aforementioned analytical solutions are used and the preceding assumptions verified.

In Čerenkov and Smith-Purcell free-electron lasers (FELs), a resonant interaction between the electron beam and the copropagating surface mode can produce a copious amount of coherent terahertz radiation. We perform a three-dimensional (3D) analysis of the surface mode, taking the effect of attenuation into account, and set up 3D Maxwell-Lorentz equations for both these systems. Based on this analysis, we determine the requirements on the electron beam parameters, i.e., beam emittance, beam size and beam current for the successful operation of a Čerenkov FEL.

In present ultralow-emittance storage ring designs the emittance coupling required for the production of vertically diffraction-limited synchrotron radiation in the hard x-ray regime is achieved and in many cases surpassed by a correction of the orbit and the linear optics alone. However, operating with a vertical emittance lower than required is disadvantageous, since it decreases Touschek lifetime and reduces brightness due to the transverse emittance increase from intrabeam scattering. In this paper we present a scheme consisting of closed vertical dispersion bumps successively excited in each arc of the storage ring by skew quadrupoles that couple horizontal dispersion into the vertical plane to a desired level and thereby raise the vertical emittance in a controlled fashion. A systematic approach to vertical dispersion bumps has been developed that suppresses dispersion and betatron coupling in the straight sections in order to maintain a small projected emittance for insertion devices. In this way, beam lifetime can be significantly increased without negatively impacting insertion device source properties and hence brightness. Using simulation results for the MAX IV 3 GeV storage ring including magnet and alignment imperfections we demonstrate that Touschek lifetime can be increased by more than a factor 2 by adjusting the vertical emittance from 1.3 pm rad (after orbit correction) to 8 pm rad (after application of dispersion bumps) using two to three independent skew quadrupole families all the while ensuring deviations from design optics are restrained to a minimum.

Bunch phase shift along the train due to a bunch gap transient is a concern in high-current colliders. In KEKB operation, the measured phase shift along the train agreed well with a simulation and a simple analytical form in most part of the train. However, a rapid phase change was observed at the leading part of the train, which was not predicted by the simulation or by the analytical form. In order to understand the cause of this observation, we have developed an advanced simulation, which treats the transient loading in each of the cavities of the three-cavity system of the accelerator resonantly coupled with energy storage (ARES) instead of the equivalent single cavities used in the previous simulation, operating in the accelerating mode. In this paper, we show that the new simulation reproduces the observation, and clarify that the rapid phase change at the leading part of the train is caused by a transient loading in the three-cavity system of ARES. KEKB is being upgraded to SuperKEKB, which is aiming at 40 times higher luminosity than KEKB. The gap transient in SuperKEKB is investigated using the new simulation, and the result shows that the rapid phase change at the leading part of the train is much larger due to higher beam currents. We will also present measures to mitigate possible luminosity reduction or beam performance deterioration due to the rapid phase change caused by the gap transient.

Using a 1D steady-state free-space coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) model, we identify a special design setting for a triple-bend isochronous achromat that yields vanishing emittance growth from CSR. When a more refined CSR model with transient effects is included in the analysis, numerical simulations show that the main effect of the transients is to shift the emittance growth minimum slightly, with the minimum changing only modestly.

We find that dynamic aperture depends significantly on the bending radii of dipole magnets when designing a small storage ring for Tsinghua Thomson scattering X-ray source (TTX) mainly because of the nonlinearity of the dipole field. In this paper, we present systematic studies on the intrinsic-geometric nonlinearity of dipole magnets. The Hamiltonian approach is used to determine the expressions of the geometric nonlinear potential and the corresponding third-order resonance strengths. Simulations are conducted to study these resonances. Our analysis results agree well with the tracking results at the third-order resonances $3{\nu }_x=\ell$ and ${\nu }_x\pm 2{\nu }_z=\ell$, where $\ell$’s are the integer multiple of the number of superperiods.

Metal-based shielding plays an important role in the attenuation of harmful and unwanted radiation at an accelerator-driven spallation neutron source. At the European Spallation Source, currently under construction in Lund, Sweden, metal-based materials are planned to be used extensively as neutron guide substrates in addition to other shielding structures around neutron guides. The usage of metal-based materials in the vicinity of neutron guides however requires careful consideration in order to minimize potential background effects in a neutron instrument at the facility. Therefore, we have carried out a combined study involving high-energy neutron measurements and Monte Carlo simulations of metal-based shielding, both to validate the simulation methodology and also to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of different metal-based solutions. The measurements were carried out at The Svedberg Laboratory in Uppsala, Sweden, using a 174.1 MeV neutron beam and various thicknesses of aluminum-, iron-, and copper-based shielding blocks. The results were compared to geant4 simulations and revealed excellent agreement. Our combined study highlights the particular situations where one type of metal-based solution may be preferred over another.

Free electron lasers operating with two colors are promising devices for applications. The relevant modelization has provided a good understanding of the underlying physics. In this paper we present an analysis of the experimental results obtained at SPARC_LAB concerning seeded two-colors free electron laser (FEL) operation. The use of an ad hoc developed semi-analytical model based on the small-signal FEL integral equation reproduces most of the observed phenomenology. The paper discusses the reliability of the proposed method, the range of validity and its possible improvement.

Simulations of coherent spontaneous undulator radiation in a waveguide demonstrate that the use of negative mass instability (NMI) for retaining longitudinal sizes of dense electron bunches, which are formed in laser-driven photoinjectors, allows one to increase power capabilities of a terahertz radiation source by many times. The NMI is realized in an undulator with combined helical and over-resonance uniform longitudinal magnetic fields due to nonisochronous longitudinal oscillations of electrons, whose frequencies increase/decrease with increasing/decreasing particle energy. In such conditions, an effective longitudinal size of the bunches can be preserved at long distance even at an extremely high electron density. Correspondingly, an energy extraction efficiency of more than 20% is revealed at a narrow frequency radiation spectrum, suggesting realization of a compact and powerful THz source.

In this article we describe how to obtain symplectic “slice” maps for combined-function magnets, by using a method of generating functions. A feature of this method is that one can use an unexpanded and unsplit Hamiltonian. From such a slice map we obtain a first-order map which is symplectic at the closed orbit. We also obtain a symplectic kick map. Both results were implemented into the widely used program MAD-X to regain, in particular, the twiss parameters for the sliced model of the Proton Synchrotron at CERN. In addition, we obtain recursion equations for symplectic maps of general time-dependent Hamiltonians, which might be useful even beyond the scope of accelerator physics.