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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Design progress for the 22 GeV CEBAF energy upgrade

In this work we examine the progress made in the design of the proposed FFA upgrade to the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). This proposed upgrade will double the number of passes through the two linacs by replacing the two highest energy arcs with new Fixed Field Alternating Gradient (FFA) arcs, roughly doubling the energy. These FFA arcs will use permanent magnets in a Halbach configuration to shape their fields. The design involves new optics for the linacs and remaining electromagnetic arcs, as well as new electromagnetic separators. These feed into the permanent magnet FFA arcs. We also report on ongoing studies of the dynamics of the beams, and an experiment to measure the effects of radiation on the permanent magnets.

Accelerator Physics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accumulator Ring Design Energy and RCS-based Proton Driver

Traditional Fermilab proton upgrade scenarios include a "linac option" and an "RCS option". In the former case all the acceleration takes place in the linac into an accumulator ring, and in the latter case as much acceleration as possible takes place in the RCS. Whereas muon collider proton driver scenarios typically assume all linac acceleration, the possibility of an RCS option should be considered more closely. We walk through the technical risks and possible benefits injecting at a lower energy including space-charge, H- stripping, circumference, and linac design.

Eldred, Jeff [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2025

Design and Commission of Solid State Switch Driver in SLAC Subbooster Modulator

The LINAC sub-booster modulator is a pulsed power supply to provide a 30kV pulse to drive a klystron in SLAC LINAC. It has utilized vacuum tetrode as pulse switch for more than 60 years. With the vacuum tetrode availability becoming less and its cost surging, a natural choice is to use solid state switch in this pulsed power modulator. To commission solid state switch in LINAC sub-booster modulator, a driver board is designed to drive a BEHLKE HTS-LC2 series MOSFET based switches. The design concept and some concerns in design will be presented. The driver board is universal for all HTS-LC2 series switches because they share the same driver signals and connections. After the driver is commissioned, two AI systems are introduced to design one core part of the driver, the results are presented here. During the commission of the driver board in the LINAC sub-booster modulators, some problems happened and were addressed.

AI Circuit Design↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experimental investigation of longitudinal scraping of H- bunches via photo-detachment

Longitudinal emittance growth is a significant challenge in RF linacs, especially for poorly bunched beams. This stems from particles occupying outer synchrotron oscillation orbits in the LBET, causing unwanted bunch-bunch interactions and degraded beam quality. To address this, we proposed using temporally spaced laser pulses to selectively photo-detach electrons from the longitudinal head and tail regions of H- ion bunches. This approach aims to reduce particle density in extreme orbits, enhancing beam uniformity and limiting emittance growth. Our experiments employed Fermilab's 'LaserNotcher' system at the font end of the linac, delivering 1.6 MW peak power with sub-nanosecond precision. By neutralizing the first and last half-nanosecond of several H- bunches, we measured their propagation injection into the booster. Measurements of pulse width, average height, and temporal spacing over booster cycles were compared between the scraped and unscraped bunches. Statistical analysis evaluated the results’ significance, highlighting the feasibility of laser-based scraping for future linac designs to achieve higher beam energies with improved emittance control.

Landon, Parker [Boston U.]↗
DOE OSTI2024

Beam Loss Assessment Through Use of Photomultiplier Tubes

The first machine in the Fermilab Accelerator chain, the Linac, delivers a 400 MeV proton beam. The first portion of the Fermilab Linac, the Drift Tube Linac, lacks the degree of instrumentation necessary for beam tuning. To compensate for this, photomultiplier tube (PMT s) based loss monitors were installed on either side of the first two drift tube tanks, but are not yet operational. One of the main goals in this is to make PMT's operational beam loss monitors for tuning. Noise reduction and peak finding on the PMT data is a requirement for this. A method for noise reduction and peak finding has been developed and implemented to produce a consistent and stable output. Future work includes integration with ACNET to automate input and output of data for analysis of beam loss.

Waggoner, Alexander↗
DOE OSTI2024

Successful Cleanroom Installation of PIP-II SSR2 Coupler Using Robotic Arm

The Fermilab Side-Coupled Linac accelerates H- beam from 116 MeV to 400 MeV through seven 805 MHz modules. Twelve wire scanners are present in the Side Coupled Linac and four are present in the transfer line between the Linac and the Booster synchrotron ring. These wire scanners act as important diagnostic instruments to directly collect information on the beam s transverse distribution. The manipulation of the conditions of wire scanner data collection enables further characterization of the beamline, such as calculating emittance and the Twiss parameters of the beam at select regions. Here we present the results of these studies and characterization of the non-Gaussian transverse beam distribution observed.

Narug, C.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Proton Improvement Plan II (PIP-II) Clock and Timing

The PIP-II timing system is planned to be a two-part system consisting of a global timing system (referred to as ACLK) that provides high level, event-based timing for the whole Fermilab accelerator complex while the second part is a RF synchronized clock system unique to the PIP-II Linac itself (referred to as LCLK). The ACLK System will make use of an external 10 MHz GPS based signal source as a reference for its 650 MHz phase lock as it is the reference frequency for the TCLK output of the system (needed to support legacy hardware around complex). The LCLK System will use a PIP-II Linac RF reference (162.5 MHz) from the Linac LLRF system to allow beam synchronized event placement. Both the ACLK and LCLK systems will have a clock output with a data frame of 16 event bits + 32 data bits with frames broadcast at 650 MHz, phase locked to the 10MHz reference in the case of ACLK and the PIP-II LLRF sourced 162.5 MHz reference in the case of LCLK.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experimental investigation of longitudinal scraping of $H-$ bunches via photo-detachment

Longitudinal emittance growth is a significant challenge in RF linacs, especially for poorly bunched beams. This stems from particles occupying outer synchrotron oscillation orbits in the LBET, causing unwanted bunch-bunch interactions and degraded beam quality. To address this, we proposed using temporally spaced laser pulses to selectively photo-detach electrons from the longitudinal head and tail regions of H- ion bunches. This approach aims to reduce particle density in extreme orbits, enhancing beam uniformity and limiting emittance growth. Our experiments employed Fermilab's 'LaserNotcher' system at the font end of the linac, delivering 1.6 MW peak power with sub-nanosecond precision. By neutralizing the first and last half-nanosecond of several H- bunches, we measured their propagation injection into the booster. Measurements of pulse width, average height, and temporal spacing over booster cycles were compared between the scraped and unscraped bunches. Statistical analysis evaluated the results’ significance, highlighting the feasibility of laser-based scraping for future linac designs to achieve higher beam energies with improved emittance control.

Landon, P. [Boston U.; Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of the Dispersion in the CeC Beamlines

The coherent electron cooling requires to match the relativistic factors of the hadron and electron beam within 10 -4 accuracy. Initial matching is based on the energy measurement of the electron beam using solenoid with accuracy about 10 -3 (the hadron relativistic factor can be found from the revolution frequency). Further matching is done with observation of the recombination rate with fine tuning based on the cooling rate. The last two steps require change of the electron energy which is achieved by change of the linac voltage. The interaction of the hadron and electron beams is affected by the transverse overlap of two beams. To minimize the effect, we need zero dispersion in the common section. The merge of the beams a dogleg transfer line is used containing two dipoles and three quadrupoles. The zeroing of dispersion is performed by settings of the quadrupoles. We have developed two ways to measure the dispersion. In the first mostly commonly used we change both dipoles by the same value creating the mismatch between the electron energy and bending magnet. In the compensated dogleg the position in the second dipole should not change, and the trajectory angle will change by the same amount as deflecting angle but in opposite direction. Therefore, the trajectory in the common section will not change. The value of the dispersion can be calculated from the beam displacement divided by the relative chang of the dipoles’ current. The second method is based on the change of the electron beam energy using linac. This method requires electron orbit alignment with linac axis to avoid beam steering. The results are shown in Fig.1 and Fig. 2. The first figure shows the dispersion prior the correction, and the second figure after the correction.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Small scale electron linear accelerators for industrial applications

Linear accelerators (linacs), producing electron or X-ray radiation in the MeV range, are critical tools for industrial irradiation, medical device sterilization, food pasteurization, non-destructive testing, security, medical, and many other applications. Many of these applications require compact and flexible radiation sources. In this paper, we present new technologies for small-scale electron linear accelerators and examples of their practical implementations. Furthermore, these developments include low energy accelerators with self-shielding options and form factors, ranging from cabinet-size to hand-portable generators; medium-energy accelerators for novel radiotherapy and security applications; and high-energy 10 MeV linacs capable of reaching 20–35 kW beam power for emerging industrial and phytosanitary applications

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Design and fabrication of a four-rod radio frequency quadrupole with a variable aperture

Radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ) linear accelerators with variable aperture cell parameters offer an effective means of accelerating high-intensity ion beams exceeding 100 mA and have been implemented in various RFQ designs. However, in a four-rod RFQ, the use of dielectric perturbation methods to measure the voltage distribution behind the rod electrodes is not applicable when implementing variable aperture geometries, because changes in the rod shape influence the electric field at the location of the perturbation element. Therefore, it was necessary to design the rod profile for each cell such that the electric field distribution behind the rods remains unaffected by changes in the aperture. In this study, we present a method to adjust the voltage distribution by modifying the geometry of the rod electrodes according to each cell's aperture parameters. This design approach enables the integration of variable aperture cells into a four-rod RFQ linac, significantly enhancing the achievable beam current. To ensure uniform capacitance and maintain a constant rod-electrode voltage despite variations in the average aperture radius, we developed a systematic method for shaping the rod electrodes. This method was refined using two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) electromagnetic field simulations to optimize the electrode cross-sectional profiles. The fabricated rod electrodes were then installed in a four-rod RFQ, and the electric field distribution was measured using the perturbation method and tuned by adjusting the base plates. As a result, the measured variation of ±1.1 % confirms that this design methodology can produce a sufficiently uniform voltage distribution for high-current beam acceleration. These results demonstrate the practical feasibility of a variable-aperture four-rod RFQ linac.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

A compact low-level RF control system for advanced concept compact electron linear accelerator

A compact low-level RF (LLRF) control system based on RF system-on-chip (RFSoC) technology has been designed for the Advanced Concept Compact Electron Linear-accelerator (ACCEL) program, which has challenging requirements in both RF performance and size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP). The compact LLRF solution employs the direct RF sampling technique of RFSoC, which samples the RF signals directly without any analog upconversion and downconversion. Compared with the conventional heterodyne based architecture used for the LLRF system of a linear accelerator (LINAC), the elimination of analog mixers can significantly reduce the size and weight of the system, especially with LINAC requiring a larger number of RF channels. Based on the requirements of ACCEL, a prototype LLRF platform has been developed, and the control schemes have been proposed. The prototype LLRF system demonstrated magnitude and phase fluctuation levels below 1% and 1° on the flattop of a 2 μs RF pulse. The LLRF control schemes proposed for ACCEL are implemented with a prototype hardware platform. In conclusion, this paper will introduce the new compact LLRF solution and summarize a selection of experimental test results of the prototype itself and with the accelerating structure cavities designed for ACCEL.

Liu, C. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLA↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility at 12 GeV

This review paper describes the energy-upgraded Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) accelerator. This superconducting linac has achieved 12 GeV beam energy by adding 11 new high-performance cryomodules containing 88 superconducting cavities that have operated cw at an average accelerating gradient of 20 MV / m . After reviewing the attributes and performance of the previous 6 GeV CEBAF accelerator, we discuss the upgraded CEBAF accelerator system in detail with particular attention paid to the new beam acceleration systems. In addition to doubling the acceleration in each linac, the upgrade included improving the beam recirculation magnets, adding more helium cooling capacity to allow the newly installed modules to run cold, adding a new experimental hall, and improving numerous other accelerator components. We review several of the techniques deployed to operate and analyze the accelerator performance and document system operating experience and performance. In the final portion of the document, we present much of the current planning regarding projects to improve accelerator performance and enhance operating margins, and our plans for ensuring CEBAF operates reliably into the future. For the benefit of potential users of CEBAF, the performance and quality measures for the beam delivered to each of the experimental halls are summarized in the Appendix. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

HELIX

HELIX — Hybrid Envelope-multiparticle LInac eXplorer: TraceWin-compatible linac simulation with 3-D PIC space charge, matching, a PyQt6 workbench, and a voice-driven AI copilot. Built at Fermilab for PIP-II.

Pathak, Abhishek [Fermi National Accelerator Labor↗
DOE OSTI2025

Extending JuTrack’s capabilities to the FRIB accelerator to enhance online modeling

JuTrack is a Julia-based accelerator modeling and tracking package that utilizes compiler-level automatic differentiation (AD) to enable fast and accurate derivative calculations. While JuTrack provides a solid foundation for beam dynamics simulations, its capabilities must be extended to support the Facility for Rare Isotopes (FRIB) linac. This includes modeling heavy-ion linac accelerator components such as the liquid-lithium charge stripper, which facilitates efficient acceleration by remove electrons from heavy isotopes, and incorporating multi-charge state acceleration tracking, which allows for charge-dependent beam dynamics. These extensions address challenges such as the beam matching and optimization of multi charge state through various accelerating structures and beam-material interaction modeling while maintaining the auto differentiation capability. This work focuses on adapting JuTrack to incorporate these elements, enhancing its online modeling abilities. We present modifications to JuTrack’s framework and demonstrate their performance in FRIB simulations.

Accelerator Physics↗
DOE OSTI2025

APOLLO: a facility-scale differentiable virtual accelerator at Fermilab FAST/IOTA

As the design complexity of modern accelerators grows, there is more interest in using advanced simulations that have fast execution time or yield additional insights like gradients. The FAST/IOTA facility has been working on implementing and experimentally validating an end-to-end digital twin that is both fast and gradient-aware, allowing for rapid prototyping of new software and experiments with minimal beam time costs. Our framework integrates physics and ML codes for linac and ring simulation through a set of generic interfaces between surrogate and physics-based sections. To reproduce device inputs and outputs, system state is exposed as a deterministic event loop in a specialized discrete event simulator architecture. Because Fermilab is undergoing control system transition, several APIs were implemented as final user interfaces - a fully asynchronous EPICS soft IOC, a gRPC-based Data Pool Manager (DPM), and legacy ACNET protocols. We discuss implementation details as well as challenges handling live data assimilation and future plans to extend modelling to main complex proton accelerators like PIPII and Booster.

Kuklev, Nikita [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2025

An extraction scheme for future CEBAF FFA based energy upgrade

Jefferson lab is considering an energy increase from current 12 GeV to 22 GeV for its CEBAF accelerator. This will be accomplished by recirculating 5-6 additional turns through two parallel CEBAF LINACs using an FFA arc at each end of the racetrack. The total recirculation turns would be 10 times, the first four turns use present conventional arcs to make the 180-degree bends from one LINAC to the other. However, the last 5-6 turns will all share a single beam line inside two FFA arcs. This reduces the footprint and the cost of the project significantly. On the other hand, having the trajectories of last 5-6 recirculating beams close to each other makes it challenging to extract beams from different passes with different energies. In this paper we will explain our present extraction system for 12 GeV, our challenges and limitations, and a possible extraction solution for the 22 GeV upgrade with the goal of extracting beam at different turns/energies to different experimental halls.

Accelerator Physics↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Ghost Collider: An Innovative Higgs Factory

The Ghost Collider is an innovative proposal for a 550 GeV centre-of-mass, 275 GeV per beam linear collid-er with four interaction regions, each with the design luminosity. The primary innovation is the use of “ghost bunches” containing equal numbers of electrons and posi-trons so they are electrically neutral. In the linacs, energy is transferred between electrons and positrons in the same bunch, decelerating one type of particle and using the energy to accelerate the other: a new class of Energy Re-covery Linacs. At the interaction points, collisions be-tween two neutral ghost bunches occurs with weakened electromagnetic interaction such as the beam-beam effect or disruption, ensuring that the particles and their energy can be recycled with minimal loss. Four “serial IPs” are incorporated, where chromatic errors produced in one IP are cancelled in the following IP. The neutral beam insta-bility at the IP is also addressed. All interaction points have the nominal luminosity per IP of 2.8 x 1034 cm-2s-1 for a facility luminosity of 1.1 x1035 cm-2s-1 @ 100 MW electrical power for the RF systems. The result is a totally original concept for an electron-positron collider.

Hutton, A. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator ↗