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At least 883 records · Page 49

Reflection of light beams from a chirped dielectric plane-layered structure

The reflection of light beams with various widths of the angular spectrum from a chirped plane-layered dielectric structure is numerically studied. For wide beams, the total lateral shift of the reflected beam depends on the position of the photonic barrier inside the structure and the value of the Goos – Hänchen shift. For narrow beams, the region of the interaction with the structure increases, the profile broadens and the reflected beam wavefront becomes phase modulated. It is shown that the light reflected from a quasi-periodic structure with negative spatial dispersion undergoes focusing. (light beams)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Calculation of the transverse kicks generated by the bends of a hollow electron lens

Electron lenses are pulsed, magnetically confined electron beams whose current-density profile is shaped to obtain the desired effect on the circulating beam in high-energy accelerators. They were used in the Fermilab Tevatron collider for abort-gap clearing, beam-beam compensation, and halo scraping. A beam-beam compensation scheme based upon electron lenses is currently being implemented in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This work is in support of a conceptual design of hollow electron beam scraper for the Large Hadron Collider. It also applies to the implementation of nonlinear integrable optics with electron lenses in the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator at Fermilab. We consider the axial asymmetries of the electron beam caused by the bends that are used to inject electrons into the interaction region and to extract them. A distribution of electron macroparticles is deposited on a discrete grid enclosed in a conducting pipe. The electrostatic potential and electric fields are calculated using numerical Poisson solvers. The kicks experienced by the circulating beam are estimated by integrating the electric fields over straight trajectories. These kicks are also provided in the form of interpolated analytical symplectic maps for numerical tracking simulations, which are needed to estimate the effects of the electron lens imperfections on proton lifetimes, emittance growth, and dynamic aperture. We outline a general procedure to calculate the magnitude of the transverse proton kicks, which can then be generalized, if needed, to include further refinements such as the space-charge evolution of the electron beam, magnetic fields generated by the electron current, and longitudinal proton dynamics.

Stancari, Giulio↗

Electron Lenses for the Large Hadron Collider

Electron lenses are pulsed, magnetically confined electron beams whose current-density profile is shaped to obtain the desired effect on the circulating beam. Electron lenses were used in the Fermilab Tevatron collider for bunch-by-bunch compensation of long-range beam-beam tune shifts, for removal of uncaptured particles in the abort gap, for preliminary experiments on head-on beam-beam compensation, and for the demonstration of halo scraping with hollow electron beams. Electron lenses for beam-beam compensation are being commissioned in RHIC at BNL. Within the US LHC Accelerator Research Program and the European HiLumi LHC Design Study, hollow electron beam collimation was studied as an option to complement the collimation system for the LHC upgrades. This project is moving towards a technical design in 2014, with the goal to build the devices in 2015-2017, after resuming LHC operations and re-assessing needs and requirements at 6.5 TeV. Because of their electric charge and the absence of materials close to the proton beam, electron lenses may also provide an alternative to wires for long-range beam-beam compensation in LHC luminosity upgrade scenarios with small crossing angles.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Applications of electron lenses: scraping of high-power beams, beam-beam compensation, and nonlinear optics

Electron lenses are pulsed, magnetically confined electron beams whose current-density profile is shaped to obtain the desired effect on the circulating beam. Electron lenses were used in the Fermilab Tevatron collider for bunch-by-bunch compensation of long-range beam-beam tune shifts, for removal of uncaptured particles in the abort gap, for preliminary experiments on head-on beam-beam compensation, and for the demonstration of halo scraping with hollow electron beams. Electron lenses for beam-beam compensation are being commissioned in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Hollow electron beam collimation and halo control were studied as an option to complement the collimation system for the upgrades of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN; a conceptual design was recently completed. Because of their electric charge and the absence of materials close to the proton beam, electron lenses may also provide an alternative to wires for long-range beam-beam compensation in LHC luminosity upgrade scenarios with small crossing angles. At Fermilab, we are planning to install an electron lens in the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA, a 40-m ring for 150-MeV electrons) as one of the proof-of-principle implementations of nonlinear integrable optics to achieve large tune spreads and more stable beams without loss of dynamic aperture.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Coherent combining of pulses amplified in wideband parametric amplifiers under multiple-beam pumping

The influence of fluctuations of pump beam parameters on the coherent combining efficiency of femtosecond pulses amplified in parametric amplifies based on LBO crystals under multiple- beam pumping is analysed. It is shown that in transition from a single-beam to two-beam pumping, the sensitivity of the parameters of amplified radiation to angular instability of the pump beams sharply increases. With increasing number of the pump beams, the sensitivity of the parameters to fluctuations of the pump beam propagation angle weakly varies. It is found that if a substantial number (n ≫ 1) of 2-cm-diameter beams amplified in parametric amplifiers under multiple-beam pumping are coherently combined, then obtaining the 98 % efficiency of this process requires the angular stabilisation of the pump beams better than 50 μrad. Fluctuations of other pump beam parameters such as energy, phase aberrations, and relative jitter either affect only the amplitude of the pulse amplified or the influence on the phase profile of the amplified beam is at most 10{sup −2} rad, which should not noticeably affect the coherent combining of amplified pulses. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

3D printing of gas jet nozzles for laser-plasma accelerators

Recent results on laser wakefield acceleration in tailored plasma channels have underlined the importance of controlling the density profile of the gas target. In particular, it was reported that the appropriate density tailoring can result in improved injection, acceleration, and collimation of laser-accelerated electron beams. To achieve such profiles, innovative target designs are required. For this purpose, we have reviewed the usage of additive layer manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, in order to produce gas jet nozzles. Notably we have compared the performance of two industry standard techniques, namely, selective laser sintering (SLS) and stereolithography (SLA). Furthermore we have used the common fused deposition modeling to reproduce basic gas jet designs and used SLA and SLS for more sophisticated nozzle designs. The nozzles are characterized interferometrically and used for electron acceleration experiments with the SALLE JAUNE terawatt laser at Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Molecular-beam sampling study of extinguishment of methane-air flames by dry chemicals

The use of Al2O3, NaHCO3, KHCO3, NH4H2PO4 and KCl powders for the inhibition of a methane/oxygen diffusion flame is studied through measurement of composition and temperature profiles, using a molecular beam mass spectrometer sampling system. In order to obtain significant inhibition without extinguishing the flame, a powder feeding rate of 2 mg/liter of gas was used for KCl and Al2O3, and of 3 mg/liter of gas for the remaining powders. CH4, O2, N2, H2O and CO2 concentrations were measured by the mass spectrometer, while temperature was measured by the time-of-flight technique. For the powder feeding rates used, Al2O3 was the least and KCl and NH2H4PO2 the most effective in reducing temperature; in reaction-inhibition effectiveness, Al2O3 was again lowest while KCl was superior to all others. Because the KCl concentration was only 2/3 that of NH4H2PO4, it is recommended as the most effective temperature reducer and reaction inhibitor.

Knuth, E. L.↗

Quasi-monoenergetic ion generation by hole-boring radiation pressure acceleration in inhomogeneous plasmas using tailored laser pulses

It is proposed that laser hole-boring at a steady speed in inhomogeneous overdense plasma can be realized by the use of temporally tailored intense laser pulses, producing high-fluence quasi-monoenergetic ion beams. A general temporal profile of such laser pulses is formulated for arbitrary plasma density distribution. As an example, for a precompressed deuterium-tritium fusion target with an exponentially increasing density profile, its matched laser profile for steady hole-boring is given theoretically and verified numerically by particle-in-cell simulations. Furthermore, we propose to achieve fast ignition by the in-situ hole-boring accelerated ions using a tailored laser pulse. Simulations show that the effective energy fluence, conversion efficiency, energy spread, and collimation of the resulting ion beam can be significantly improved as compared to those found with un-tailored laser profiles. For the fusion fuel with an areal density of 1.5 g cm{sup –2}, simulation indicates that it is promising to realize fast ion ignition by using a tailored driver pulse with energy about 65 kJ.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Combined hydrogen and lithium beam emission spectroscopy observation system for Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research

A novel beam emission spectroscopy observation system was designed, built, and installed onto the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research tokamak. The system is designed in a way to be capable of measuring beam emission either from a heating deuterium or from a diagnostic lithium beam. The two beams have somewhat complementary capabilities: edge density profile and turbulence measurement with the lithium beam and two dimensional turbulence measurement with the heating beam. Two detectors can be used in parallel: a CMOS camera provides overview of the scene and lithium beam light intensity distribution at maximum few hundred Hz frame rate, while a 4 × 16 pixel avalanche photo-diode (APD) camera gives 500 kHz bandwidth data from a 4 cm × 16 cm region. The optics use direct imaging through lenses and mirrors from the observation window to the detectors, thus avoid the use of costly and inflexible fiber guides. Remotely controlled mechanisms allow adjustment of the APD camera’s measurement location on a shot-to-shot basis, while temperature stabilized filter holders provide selection of either the Doppler shifted deuterium alpha or lithium resonance line. The capabilities of the system are illustrated by measurements of basic plasma turbulence properties.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Electron-beam lithography for micro and nano-optical applications

Direct-write electron-beam lithography has proven to be a powerful technique for fabricating a variety of micro- and nano-optical devices. Binary E-beam lithography is the workhorse technique for fabricating optical devices that require complicated precision nano-scale features. We describe a bi-layer resist system and virtual-mark height measurement for improving the reliability of fabricating binary patterns. Analog E-beam lithography is a newer technique that has found significant application in the fabrication of diffractive optical elements. We describe our techniques for fabricating analog surface-relief profiles in E-beam resist, including some discussion regarding overcoming the problems of resist heating and charging. We also describe a multiple-field-size exposure scheme for suppression of field-stitch induced ghost diffraction orders produced by blazed diffraction gratings on non-flat substrates.

electron-beam lithography↗

Inland and Near-Shore Water Profiles Derived from the High-Altitude Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL)

The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) on the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2) mission is a six beam, low energy, high repetition rate, 532-nanometer laser transmitter with photon counting detectors. Although designed primarily for detecting height changes in ice caps, sea ice, and vegetation, the polar-orbiting satellite will observe global surface water during its designed three-year life span, including inland waterbodies, coasts, and open oceans. In preparation for the mission, an ICESat-2 prototype, the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL), was built and flown on high-altitude aircraft experiments over a range of inland and near-shore targets. The purpose was to test the ATLAS concept and to provide a database for developing an algorithm that detects along track surface water height and light penetration under a range of atmospheric and water conditions. The current analysis examines the data sets of three MABEL transects observed from 20 kilometers above ground of coastal and inland waters conducted in 2012 and 2013. Transects ranged from about 2 to 12 kilometers in length and included the middle Chesapeake Bay, the near-shore Atlantic coast at Virginia Beach, and Lake Mead. Results indicate MABEL's high capability for retrieving surface water height statistics with a mean height precision ofapproximately 5-7 centimeters per 100-meter segment length. Profiles of attenuated subsurface backscatter, characterized using a Signal to Background Ratio written in Log10 base, or LSBR (sub 0), were observed over a range of 1.3 to 9.3 meters, depending on water clarity and atmospheric background. Results indicate that observable penetration depth, although primarily dependent on water properties, was greatest when the solar background rate was low. Near-shore bottom reflectance was detected only at the Lake Mead site down to a maximum of 10 meters under a clear night sky and low turbidity of approximately 1.6 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU). The overall results suggest that the feasibility of retrieving operational surface water height statistics from space-based photon counting systems such as ATLAS is very high for resolutions down to about 100 meters, even in partly cloudy conditions. The capability to observe subsurface backscatterprofiles is achievable but requires much longer transects of several hundreds of meters.

inland↗

Beam Propagation Through Atmospheric Turbulence Using an Altitude-Dependent Structure Profile with Non-Uniformly Distributed Phase Screens

For free-space optical communication systems, numerical wave optics simulations provide a useful technique for modeling turbulence-induced beam degradation when the analytical theory is insufficient for characterizing the atmospheric channel. Motivated by such applications we use a split-step method modeling the turbulence as a series of random phase screens using the Hufnagel-Valley turbulence profile. We employ a space-to-ground case study to examine the irradiance and phase statistics for uniformly and non-uniformly located screens and find better agreement with theory using a non-uniform discretization minimizing the contribution of each screen to the total scintillation. In this poster, we summarize the method and the results of the case study including a comparison to layered models used in astronomical imaging applications.

Chahine, Yousef K.↗

SU-E-P-24: Simplified EDW Profile Measurements Using Two Commonly Available Detector Arrays

Purpose: Enhanced dynamic wedge (EDW) profiles are needed as part of the commissioning of a treatment planning system. This work compares the acquisition of EDW profiles using a linear diode array (LDA) with two commonly used detector arrays available in the clinics, with the goal of identifying the simplest approach for these measurements. Methods: The measurements of EDW profiles were performed on a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator for 6, 10, and 18 MV photon beams for all seven wedge angles at four depths. The measurements were done using the LDA 99 in Blue Phantom2 (IBA Dosimetry), and IC Profiler and MapCHECK2 (Sun Nuclear) in solid water phantoms. The water phantom was set up at 100 cm SSD, whereas the two other devices were set up at 75 cm due to the size limitations of the devices. The largest possible field size was used. The average and maximum percentage differences were examined within the central 90% of the field and in the penumbra. Results: Dose profiles measured with IC Profiler were in a good agreement with LDA 99 data. The average percentage difference within the field did not exceed 0.5% for all energies. MapCHECK2 measurements matched well with LDA 99 for 10 and 18 MV (within 0.3%) with discrepancies of up to 1.4% observed for the 6 MV beam. The maximum percentage differences for both devices in the penumbra exhibited larger variations than LDA 99 results due to differences in detector spacing and high dose gradient, as expected. Conclusion: Common linac QA devices such as IC Profiler or MapCHECK2 provide EDW beam profile data of reasonable accuracy as compared to measurements performed using a linear diode array in a water phantom, saving the expense and time involved in acquiring and setting up a LDA.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Technical Note: Dose gradients and prescription isodose in orthovoltage stereotactic radiosurgery

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to examine the trade-off between prescription isodose and dose gradients in orthovoltage stereotactic radiosurgery. Methods: Point energy deposition kernels (EDKs) describing photon and electron transport were calculated using Monte Carlo methods. EDKs were generated from 10 to 250 keV, in 10 keV increments. The EDKs were converted to pencil beam kernels and used to calculate dose profiles through isocenter from a 4π isotropic delivery from all angles of circularly collimated beams. Monoenergetic beams and an orthovoltage polyenergetic spectrum were analyzed. The dose gradient index (DGI) is the ratio of the 50% prescription isodose volume to the 100% prescription isodose volume and represents a metric by which dose gradients in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) may be evaluated. Results: Using the 4π dose profiles calculated using pencil beam kernels, the relationship between DGI and prescription isodose was examined for circular cones ranging from 4 to 18 mm in diameter and monoenergetic photon beams with energies ranging from 20 to 250 keV. Values were found to exist for prescription isodose that optimize DGI. Conclusions: The relationship between DGI and prescription isodose was found to be dependent on both field size and energy. Examining this trade-off is an important consideration for designing optimal SRS systems.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Small Gas Bubble Experiment for Mitigation of Cavitation Damage and Pressure Waves in Short-pulse Mercury Spallation Targets

Populations of small helium gas bubbles were introduced into a flowing mercury experiment test loop to evaluate mitigation of beam-pulse induced cavitation damage and pressure waves. The test loop was developed and thoroughly tested at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) prior to irradiations at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center - Weapons Neutron Research Center (LANSCE-WNR) facility. Twelve candidate bubblers were evaluated over a range of mercury flow and gas injection rates by use of a novel optical measurement technique that accurately assessed the generated bubble size distributions. Final selection for irradiation testing included two variations of a swirl bubbler provided by Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) collaborators and one orifice bubbler developed at SNS. Bubble populations of interest consisted of sizes up to 150 m in radius with achieved gas void fractions in the 10^-5 to 10^-4 range. The nominal WNR beam pulse used for the experiment created energy deposition in the mercury comparable to SNS pulses operating at 2.5 MW. Nineteen test conditions were completed each with 100 pulses, including variations on mercury flow, gas injection and protons per pulse. The principal measure of cavitation damage mitigation was surface damage assessment on test specimens that were manually replaced for each test condition. Damage assessment was done after radiation decay and decontamination by optical and laser profiling microscopy with damaged area fraction and maximum pit depth being the more valued results. Damage was reduced by flow alone; the best mitigation from bubble injection was between half and a quarter that of flow alone. Other data collected included surface motion tracking by three laser Doppler vibrometers (LDV), loop wall dynamic strain, beam diagnostics for charge and beam profile assessment, embedded hydrophones and pressure sensors, and sound measurement by a suite of conventional and contact microphones.

bubbles↗

SU-F-T-457: A Filmless Method for Measurement of Couch Translation Per Gantry Rotation and Couch Speed for Tomotherapy Using ArcCheck

Purpose: To develop a filmless methodology based on an ArcCheck for QA measurement of the couch translation per gantry rotation and couch speed of a Tomotherapy unit. Methods: Two test plans recommended by TG148 were chosen for this study. A helical plan with 1 cm field size opened the leaves for 180 degrees at the 2nd, 7th and 12th of total 13 rotations and was used to verify if the couch travelled the expected distance per gantry rotation. The other test plan was a static plan with the gantry at 0°, 1cm field width and constant couch movement speed of 0.5mm/s. It was used for couch speed measurement. The ArcCheck was isocentrically set up and recorded movie files which took a snapshot exposure every 50ms. Due to the spiral pattern of diodes distribution, when one of the diodes of the ArcCheck located at the beam center, the dose profile as measured by the row of diodes which surrounded the center diode should have a symmetrical pattern. We divided the profile into left half A and right half B. Then a shape parameter was defined as S=Σ|(A−B)|/Σ(A+B). By searching the local minimum of S parameter, the beam center at different time could be located. The machine trajectory log data were also collected and analyzed for comparison. Results: The mean value of measured couch translation and couch speed by ArcCheck had less than 0.05% deviation from the planned values. For couch speed measurement, our result showed a mean value of 0.5002 with an uncertainty ±0.0031, which agreed very well with both the plan setting of 0.5 mm/s and the machine log data of 0.5005 mm/s. Conclusion: Couch translation measured using ArcCheck is accurate and comparable to the film-based measurement. This filmless method also provides a convenient and independent way for measuring couch speed.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Experimental study of energy-dependent angular broadening of MeV electron beams for high-resolution imaging in thick samples

In scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), spatial resolution is primarily influenced by the projected size of the electron probe within the specimen. In thin samples, a large semi-convergence angle enables a tightly focused beam and sub-nanometer resolution. However, in thick specimens, resolution is fundamentally limited by transverse beam broadening from multiple large-angle scattering events—for example, a probe with 10 mrad angular divergence can broaden by ∼100 nm over a 10 μm path. Since this broadening scales inversely with beam energy, MeV-STEM offers a promising route for high-resolution imaging in thick materials. To quantitatively assess this effect, we performed high-precision measurements at UCLA’s PEGASUS beamline, characterizing beam divergence and intensity profiles for 3–8 MeV electrons transmitted through a wedged-silicon sample of varying thickness. Our results reconcile discrepancies among analytical models and validate Monte Carlo simulations. Here, we find that increasing beam energy from 3.0 to 5.8 MeV reduces angular broadening by a factor of 2.6, with diminishing returns observed at 7.6 MeV. These findings provide a quantitative framework for optimizing MeV-STEM parameters in high-resolution imaging of thick biological and microelectronic specimens, and for guiding beam energy selection in other advanced imaging modes beyond STEM.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗