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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Broadening of fast-beam spectral lines due to diffraction at the entrance slit of a spectrometer.

Experimental and theoretical demonstration of the necessity to take into account the effects of diffraction at a spectrometer's entrance slit in adjusting the spectrometer for observation of fast-beam spectral lines under conditions of minimum linewidth. An approximate expression is obtained for the optimum entrance slit width to be used in order to avoid the pronounced broadening of the spectral lines that occurs for very narrow entrance slits.

Leavitt, J. A.↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-138: Commissioning and Evaluating Dose Computation Models for a Dedicated Proton Line Scanning Beam Nozzle in Eclipse Treatment Planning System

Purpose: In this study, we present an effective method to derive low dose envelope of the proton in-air spot fluence at beam positions other than the isocenter to reduce amount of measurements required for planning commission. Also, we demonstrate commissioning and validation results of this method to the Eclipse treatment planning system (version 13.0.29) for a Sumitomo dedicated proton line scanning beam nozzle. Methods: The in-air spot profiles at five beam-axis positions (±200, ±100 and 0 mm) were obtained in trigger mode using a MP3 Water tank (PTW-Freiburg) and a pinpoint ionization chamber (model 31014, PTW-Freiburg). Low dose envelope (below 1% of the center dose) of the spot profile at isocenter was obtained by repeated point measurements to minimize dosimetry uncertainty. The double Gaussian (DG) model was used to fit and obtain optimal σ1, σ2 and their corresponding weightings through our in-house MATLAB (Mathworks) program. σ1, σ2 were assumed to expand linearly along the beam axis from a virtual source position calculated by back projecting fitted sigmas from the single Gaussian (SG) model. Absolute doses in water were validated using an Advanced Markus chamber at the depth of 2cm with Pristine Peak (BP) R90d ranging from 5–32 cm for 10×10 cm2 scanned fields. The field size factors were verified with square fields from 2 to 20 cm at 2cm and before BP depth. Results: The absolute dose outputs were found to be within ±3%. For field size factor, the agreement between calculated and measurement were within ±2% at 2cm and ±3% before BP, except for the field size below 2×2 cm2. Conclusion: The double Gaussian model was found to be sufficient for characterizing the Sumitomo dedicated proton line scanning nozzle. With our effective double Gaussian fitting method, we are able to save significant proton beam time with acceptable output accuracy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Transverse Emittance Reduction with Tapered Foil

The idea of reducing transverse emittance with tapered energy-loss foil is proposed by J.M. Peterson in 1980s and recently by B. Carlsten. In this paper, we present the physical model of tapered energy-loss foil and analyze the emittance reduction using the concept of eigen emittance. The study shows that, to reduce transverse emittance, one should collimate at least 4% of particles which has either much low energy or large transverse divergence. The multiple coulomb scattering is not trivial, leading to a limited emittance reduction ratio. Small transverse emittances are of essential importance for the accelerator facilities generating free electron lasers, especially in hard X-ray region. The idea of reducing transverse emittance with tapered energy-loss foil is recently proposed by B. Carlsten [1], and can be traced back to J.M. Peterson's work in 1980s [2]. Peterson illustrated that a transverse energy gradient can be produced with a tapered energy-loss foil which in turn leads to transverse emittance reduction, and also analyzed the emittance growth from the associated multiple coulomb scattering. However, what Peterson proposed was rather a conceptual than a practical design. In this paper, we build a more complete physical model of the tapered foil based on Ref. [2], including the analysis of the transverse emittance reduction using the concept of eigen emittance and confirming the results by various numerical simulations. The eigen emittance equals to the projected emittance when there is no cross correlation in beam's second order moments matrix [3]. To calculate the eigen emittances, it requires only to know the beam distribution at the foil exit. Thus, the analysis of emittance reduction and the optics design of the subsequent beam line section can be separated. In addition, we can combine the effects of multiple coulomb scattering and transverse energy gradient together in the beam matrix and analyze their net effect. We find that,when applied to an electron linac or electron beam line, the energy spread increase and angular growth due to multiple scattering are not trivial; as a result, the transverse emittance can only be reduced with a limited ratio, e.g. down to about 65% the original value. The contents of this paper are arranged as follows. In Sec. II, we build the physical model of the tapered foil, derive the transverse eigen emittance and discuss the emittance reduction criteria. In Sec. III, we implement numerical simulations to verify the physical model; and in Sec. IV, we present numerical experiments and subsequent beam line to remove the transverse energy gradient to demonstrate the applicability of such method. Conclusions are given in the last section.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Studies on space charge neutralization and emittance measurement of beam from microwave ion source

A 2.45 GHz microwave ion source together with a beam transport system has been developed at VECC to study the problems related with the injection of high current beam into a compact cyclotron. This paper presents the results of beam profile measurement of high current proton beam at different degrees of space charge neutralisation with the introduction of neon gas in the beam line using a fine leak valve. The beam profiles have been measured at different pressures in the beam line by capturing the residual gas fluorescence using a CCD camera. It has been found that with space charge compensation at the present current level (∼5 mA at 75 keV), it is possible to reduce the beam spot size by ∼34%. We have measured the variation of beam profile as a function of the current in the solenoid magnet under the neutralised condition and used these data to estimate the rms emittance of the beam. Simulations performed using equivalent Kapchinsky-Vladimirsky beam envelope equations with space charge neutralization factor are also presented to interpret the experimental results.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Time-Lapse Monitoring of DNA Damage Colocalized With Particle Tracks in Single Living Cells

Purpose: Understanding the DNA damage and repair induced by hadron therapy (HT) beams is crucial for developing novel strategies to maximize the use of HT beams to treat cancer patients. However, spatiotemporal studies of DNA damage and repair for beam energies relevant to HT have been challenging. We report a technique that enables spatiotemporal measurement of radiation-induced damage in live cells and colocalization of this damage with charged particle tracks over a broad range of clinically relevant beam energies. The technique uses novel fluorescence nuclear track detectors with fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscopy in the beam line to visualize particle track traversals within the subcellular compartments of live cells within seconds after injury. Methods and Materials: We designed and built a portable fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscope for use in the beam path, coated fluorescence nuclear track detectors with fluorescent-tagged live cells (HT1080 expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein tagged to XRCC1, a single-strand break repair protein), placed the entire assembly into a proton therapy beam line, and irradiated the cells with a fluence of ∼1 × 10{sup 6} protons/cm{sup 2}. Results: We successfully obtained confocal images of proton tracks and foci of DNA single-strand breaks immediately after irradiation. Conclusions: This technique represents an innovative method for analyzing biological responses in any HT beam line at energies and dose rates relevant to therapy. It allows precise determination of the number of tracks traversing a subcellular compartment and monitoring the cellular damage therein, and has the potential to measure the linear energy transfer of each track from therapeutic beams.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-D-BRE-05: Feasibility and Limitations of Laser-Driven Proton Therapy: A Treatment Planning Study

Purpose: Laser-acceleration of particles may offer a cost- and spaceefficient alternative for future radiation therapy with particles. Laser-driven particle beams are pulsed with very short bunch times, and a high number of particles is delivered within one laser shot which cannot be portioned or modulated during irradiation. The goal of this study was to examine whether good treatment plans can be produced for laser-driven proton beams and to investigate the feasibility of a laser-driven treatment unit. Methods: An exponentially decaying proton spectrum was tracked through a gantry and energy selection beam line design to produce multiple proton spectra with different energy widths centered on various nominal energies. These spectra were fed into a treatment planning system to calculate spot scanning proton plans using different lateral widths of the beam and different numbers of protons contained in the initial spectrum. The clinical feasibility of the resulting plans was analyzed in terms of dosimetric quality and the required number of laser shots as an estimation of the overall treatment time. Results: We were able to produce treatment plans with plan qualities of clinical relevance for a maximum initial proton number per laser shot of 6*10{sup 8}. However, the associated minimum number of laser shots was in the order of 10{sup 4}, indicating a long delivery time in the order of at least 15 minutes, when assuming an optimistic repetition rate of the laser system of 10 Hz. Conclusion: With the simulated beam line and the assumed shape of the proton spectrum it was impossible to produce clinically acceptable treatment plans that can be delivered in a reasonable time. The situation can be improved by a method or a device in the beam line which can modulate the number of protons from shot to shot. Supported by DFG Cluster of Excellence: Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2019

Measurements of a 2.1 MeV H$^-$ beam with an Allison scanner

Transverse 2D phase space distribution of a 2.1 MeV, 5 mA H$^-$ beam is measured at the PIPIT test accelerator at Fermilab with an Allison scanner. The paper describes the design, calibration, and performance of the scanner as well as the main results of the beam measurements. Analyses of the recorded phase portraits are performed primarily in action-phase coordinates; the stability of the action under linear optics makes it easier to compare measurements taken with different beamline conditions, e.g. in various locations. The intensity of a single measured point (\pixel") is proportional to the phase density in the corresponding portion of the beam. When the Twiss parameters are calculated using only the high-phase density part of the beam, the pixel intensity in the beam core is found to be decreasing exponentially with action and to be phase-independent. Outside of the core, the intensities decrease with action at a significantly slower rate than in the core. This `tail' comprises 10-30% of the beam, with 0.1% of the total measured intensity extending beyond the action 10-20 times larger than the rms emittance. The transition from the core to the tail is accompanied by the appearance of a strong phase dependence, which is characterized in action-phase coordinates by two `branches' extending beyond the core. A set of selected measurements shows, in part, that there is no measurable emittance dilution along the beam line in the main portion of the beam; the beam parameters are practically constant over a 0.5 ms pulse; and scraping in various parts of the beam line is an effective way to decrease the transverse tails by removing the branches.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

A scintillator-based approach to monitor secondary neutron production during proton therapy

Here, the primary objective of this work is to measure the secondary neutron field produced by an uncollimated proton pencil beam impinging on different tissue-equivalent phantom materials using organic scintillation detectors. Additionally, the Monte Carlo code mcnpx-PoliMi was used to simulate the detector response for comparison to the measured data. Comparison of the measured and simulated data will validate this approach for monitoring secondary neutron dose during proton therapy. Proton beams of 155- and 200-MeV were used to irradiate a variety of phantom materials and secondary particles were detected using organic liquid scintillators. These detectors are sensitive to fast neutrons and gamma rays: pulse shape discrimination was used to classify each detected pulse as either a neutron or a gamma ray. The mcnpx-PoliMi code was used to simulate the secondary neutron field produced during proton irradiation of the same tissue-equivalent phantom materials. As a result, an experiment was performed at the Loma Linda University Medical Center proton therapy research beam line and corresponding models were created using the mcnpx-PoliMi code. The authors’ analysis showed agreement between the simulations and the measurements. The simulated detector response can be used to validate the simulations of neutron and gamma doses on a particular beam line with or without a phantom. In conclusion, the authors have demonstrated a method of monitoring the neutron component of the secondary radiation field produced by therapeutic protons. The method relies on direct detection of secondary neutrons and gamma rays using organic scintillation detectors. These detectors are sensitive over the full range of biologically relevant neutron energies above 0.5 MeV and allow effective discrimination between neutron and photon dose. Because the detector system is portable, the described system could be used in the future to evaluate secondary neutron and gamma doses on various clinical beam lines for commissioning and prospective data collection in pediatric patients treated with proton therapy.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-gradient two-beam electron accelerator

The main goal for this project was to design, build, and evaluate a detuned-cavity, collinear, two-beam accelerator structure. Testing was to be at the Yale University Beam Physics Laboratory, under terms of a sub-grant from Omega-P to Yale. Facilities available at Yale for this project include a 6-MeV S-band RF gun and associated beam line for forming and transporting a ~1 A drive beam , a 300 kV beam source for use as a test beam, and a full panoply of laboratory infrastructure and test equipment. During the first year of this project, availability and functionality of the 6-MeV drive beam and 300 kV test beam were confirmed, and the beam line was restored to a layout to be used with the two-beam accelerator project. Major efforts during the first year were also focused on computational design and simulation of the accelerator structure itself, on beam dynamics, and on beam transport. Effort during the second year was focussed on building and preparing to test the structure, including extensive cold testing. Detailed results from work under this project have been published in twelve archival journal articles, listed in Section IV of the technical report.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Of narrow lines and beaming in the strong-field SSC emission model

The synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission model for gamma-ray bursts is capable of producing narrow line features for a variety of modelled field strengths, primary electron injection distributions and burst luminosities. Multiple resonant scattering with synchrotron continuum photons efficiently traps and cools pairs in the ground state to an average energy where the Compton energy loss rate is zero. Annihilation between pairs in these cooled distributions can be very efficient. For isotropic injection of primary electrons, there is an anti-correlation of the intensity of the angular-binned emission between the portions of the continuum spectrum below the cyclotron peak and above the annihilation line feature. Small-angle emission dominates the continuum above the annihilation line feature and is smooth through the line up to the pair production cut-off, which can be above several MeV for small enough angles. The angle-averaged annihilation line is made of components which can have peak emission centered at energies away from 511 keV, due to Doppler shifting. For beamed injection,the annihilation line breaks up into relatively narrow components in the angular emission, which sum into a broad feature in the angle-averaged emission.

Preece, Robert D.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Laser Safety Gram 0035 Advanced Radiographic Capabilities

This revision covers the addition of a short pulse alignment laser to the ARC Diagnostic Table (ADT). The Advanced Radiographic Capabilities (ARC) is a diagnostic that can redirect up to four NIF beam lines (Q35T) through two compressor vessels, splitting each beam line into two beamlets, and generating up to eight distinct pulses with a pulse-width on the order of 10s of picoseconds (figure 1). The up to eight generated pulses will be staggered to backlighter targets in order to create an x-ray movie of the compression phase leading up to ignition and other purposes.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2013

The NSLS-II Alignment Coordinate System Conventions

For NSLS-II construction activities, a construction coordinate system is established with certain connections to geodetic NY State Plane Coordinate System, while physicists design the lattice and layout of accelerator and beam lines in a relatively dependent virtual space with their beam following coordinate system. In engineering design process, mechanical drawing designers, and beam line experts may both have their own coordinate system in a self-convenient manner. This situation will bring out problems of consistency and eventually lead to potential chaos for survey and alignment work. Therefore, it prompts to establish coordinate conventions recognized by all the relevant groups in order to smooth the coordinate processing flow when executing the alignment task according to specific design. Here descriptions about several existing coordinate system will be delineated and the definition of accelerator alignment coordinate system will be emphasized. The rotation and translation mathematical parameters will be given to allow for easy transformation. All the units are in meters. A programming code has been written to deal with a key requirement of integrating components’ fiducials into storage ring coordinate system. The parameters and code can be validated and tested by relevant groups.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Space charge compensation in the Linac4 low energy beam transport line with negative hydrogen ions

The space charge effect of low energy, unbunched ion beams can be compensated by the trapping of ions or electrons into the beam potential. This has been studied for the 45 keV negative hydrogen ion beam in the CERN Linac4 Low Energy Beam Transport using the package IBSimu [T. Kalvas et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 02B703 (2010)], which allows the space charge calculation of the particle trajectories. The results of the beam simulations will be compared to emittance measurements of an H{sup −} beam at the CERN Linac4 3 MeV test stand, where the injection of hydrogen gas directly into the beam transport region has been used to modify the space charge compensation degree.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Maintenance and operation procedure, and feedback controls of the J-PARC RF-driven H{sup −} ion source

In order to satisfy the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) second stage requirements of an H{sup −} ion beam of 60mA within normalized emittances of 1.5πmm•mrad both horizontally and vertically, a flat top beam duty factor of 1.25% (500μs×25Hz) and a life-time of longer than 1month, the J-PARC cesiated RF-driven H{sup −} ion source was developed by using an internal-antenna developed at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). The maintenance and operation procedure to minimize the plasma chamber (PCH) replacement time on the beam line, which is very important to maximize the J-PARC beam time especially for an antenna failure, is presented in this paper. The PCH preserved by filling argon (Ar) gas inside after pre-conditioning including pre-cesiation to produce the required beam at a test-stand successfully produced the required beam on the beam line with slight addition of cesium (Cs). The methods of the feedback controls of a 2MHz-RF-matching, an H{sup −} ion beam intensity and the addition of Cs are also presented. The RF-matching feedback by using two vacuum variable capacitors (VVCs) and RF-frequency shift produced the almost perfect matching with negligibly small reflected RF-power. The H{sup −} ion beam intensity was controlled within errors of ±0.1mA by the RF-power feedback. The amount of Cs was also controlled by remotely opening a Cs-valve to keep the RF-power lower than a settled value.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2024

Determining the Quantum Detection Efficiency of A Soft X-Ray Micro-Channel Plate Detector for the Lunar Mission, LEXI

Micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors have long been a workhorse for space-based x-ray research and are advantageous over other imaging detectors because of their low size, weight and power. The Lunar Environment heliospheric x-ray Imager (LEXI), will utilize a MCP to image Earth’s magnetosphere in soft x-rays from the lunar surface. A critical element for interpreting on-orbit data is to understand the quantum detection efficiency (QDE) of the MCP. LEXI’s MCP is coated with potassium bromide (KBr) to increase the soft x-ray QDE. Historically, few measurements of QDE exist in the soft x-ray band for KBr detectors. This paper reviews the performance of LEXI’s detector, and the QDE experiment procedure conducted at and results from the Advanced Light Source synchrotron soft x-ray beam line (6.3.2) over the energy range 70eV-1300eV. A unique beam line setup was required to limit the photon flux as to not saturate the pores of the MCP or detector signal chain. The experimental results are similar to previous literature, with some caveats unique to this MCP and experimental setup.

X-ray imaging↗
DOE OSTI2012

Development of Electronics for the ATF2 Interaction Point Region Beam Position Monitor

Nanometer resolution beam position monitors have been developed to measure and control beam position stability at the interaction point region of ATF2. The position of the beam has to be measured to within a few nanometers at the interaction point. In order to achieve this performance, electronics for the low-Q IP-BPM was developed. Every component of the electronics have been simulated and checked on the bench and using the ATF2 beam. We will explain each component and define their working range. Then, we will show the performance of the electronics measured with beam signal. ATF2 is a final focus test beam line for ILC in the framework of the ATF international collaboration. The new beam line was constructed to extend the extraction line at ATF, KEK, Japan. The first goal of ATF2 is the acheiving of a 37 nm vertical beam size at focal point (IP). The second goal is to stabilize the beam at the focal point at a few nanometer level for a long period in order to ensure the high luminosity. To achieve these goals a high resolution IP-BPM is essential. In addition for feedback applications a low-Q system is desirable.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Development and Clinical Implementation of a Universal Bolus to Maintain Spot Size During Delivery of Base of Skull Pencil Beam Scanning Proton Therapy

Purpose: To report on a universal bolus (UB) designed to replace the range shifter (RS); the UB allows the treatment of shallow tumors while keeping the pencil beam scanning (PBS) spot size small. Methods and Materials: Ten patients with brain cancers treated from 2010 to 2011 were planned using the PBS technique with bolus and the RS. In-air spot sizes of the pencil beam were measured and compared for 4 conditions (open field, with RS, and with UB at 2- and 8-cm air gap) in isocentric geometry. The UB was applied in our clinic to treat brain tumors, and the plans with UB were compared with the plans with RS. Results: A UB of 5.5 cm water equivalent thickness was found to meet the needs of the majority of patients. By using the UB, the PBS spot sizes are similar with the open beam (P>.1). The heterogeneity index was found to be approximately 10% lower for the UB plans than for the RS plans. The coverage for plans with UB is more conformal than for plans with RS; the largest increase in sparing is usually for peripheral organs at risk. Conclusions: The integrity of the physical properties of the PBS beam can be maintained using a UB that allows for highly conformal PBS treatment design, even in a simple geometry of the fixed beam line when noncoplanar beams are used.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2013

A pepper-pot emittance meter for low-energy heavy-ion beams

A novel emittance meter has been developed to measure the four-dimensional, transverse phase-space distribution of a low-energy ion beam using the pepper-pot technique. A characteristic feature of this instrument is that the pepper-pot plate, which has a linear array of holes in the vertical direction, is scanned horizontally through the ion beam. This has the advantage that the emittance can also be measured at locations along the beam line where the beam has a large horizontal divergence. A set of multi-channel plates, scintillation screen, and ccd camera is used as a position-sensitive ion detector allowing a large range of beam intensities that can be handled. This paper describes the design, construction, and operation of the instrument as well as the data analysis used to reconstruct the four-dimensional phase-space distribution of an ion beam. Measurements on a 15 keV He{sup +} beam are used as an example.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗