Accelerators

Why do we need Accelerators?

• We want to study the building blocks of nature
• Very small structure, 10-10m to 10-15m

An accelerator is a microscope of supreme resolving power

In order to investigate some object, we need to use particles
whose wave length is shorter than the size of the object.

Ee  eU h
 
Ee  E
p
U 
Ee
 1.2 109V
e
 In order to investigate some object, we
need to use particles whose wave length is
shorter than the size of the object.

h

p
 30,000 accelerators over the world.
 Of these, only about 1% are research machines with energies above 1 GeV, while about 44% are for radiotherapy,
41% for ion implantation, 9% for industrial processing and research, and 4% for biomedical and other low-energy
research.
 The cathode ray tube is a complete accelerator

Figure from a
CERN Website

TV, computer monitor, Microwave oven, oscilloscopes

 What is an accelerator?
F=qE
+q
+q

+q
S
+q
The energy gain W of a
+q
charge q in an electric field
+V generated by a potential V
is: W = q V

V typically used unit: electron volt (eV)

- 1 eV = 1.6 x 10-19 J

1 eV = energy acquired by a particle with electronic charge 1.6 x 10-19 C

accelerated through 1 V.

1 keV = 103 eV
1 MeV = 106 eV
1 GeV = 109 eV
1 TeV = 1012 eV
 Accelerator Technologies
schematic
view Source Accelerator User

An accelerator has the following principal components

 a source of charged particles
electrons, protons, heavy ions, special case: positrons & anti-protons
 accelerating elements
electrostatic columns or radiofrequency cavities which provide the electric fields
giving the energy to the particle (beam)

 beam guiding elements

mainly magnetic, in order to maintain (focus) the beam on the wanted trajectory
and to provide the orbit (closed for a synchrotron) in the case of a circular machine

 as most important ancillary systems vacuum and beam diagnostics

high vacuum is needed to avoid perturbation of the beam by collisions with residual
gas, and beam diagnostics assure the monitoring of the beam trajectories

 the user installation

(often complex) experimental set-ups including targets, spectrometers, detectors
special case: secondary beams produced by a nuclear reaction (e.g.: neutrons) or an
electromagnetic process (e.g.: photons by Bremsstrahlung / Synchrotron Radiation)
Relativistic velocity as a function of kinetic energy for protons
Electron
 Accelerators

DC accelerators RF accelerators
(Cockroft Walton, Van de Graaff,
Pelletron, Tandem)

Circular accelerators Linear accelerators

(Microtron, betatron,cyclotron, (DTL, CCDTL, RFQ,…)
synchro-cyclotron,
synchtotron, )
 DC Accelerators
An+
Energy Gain = QV = nqV
S

+V Depends on how much voltage can be

produced and sustained

+ -

•High voltage generation

•Accelerating Column
 DC Accelerators
Cockroft Walton

In a Cockroft Walton Accelerator, a rectifier-

multiplier produces the high voltage applied
to the accelerating column.
the voltage is practically limited to around 1
MV, because of breakdown of insulation.
Van deGraaff Accelerator
 DC Accelerators
Tandem Accelerators
There is a second accelerator nqV
column from the HV terminal leading qV
back to ground potential
A stripper is installed at the terminal
through which the beam particles An+ A-
pass

This principle works only for the injection of

negative ions because of the stripping
process
However, at typical terminal voltages, several
electrons can be stripped off, considerably
augmenting the energy gain of the second
section

Energy gain = q(n+1)V

 DC Accelerators

Pelletron, IUAC Pelletron, TIFR FOTIA, BARC

15 MV 14 MV 6 MV
 Classical Cyclotron

1 (𝑞𝐵𝑅)2
Maxm. KE = 𝑚
2 𝑚2
𝑟𝑓 =  q=Qxe m = A x mp
Q = Charge no
A = mass no.
𝑄2(𝑒𝐵𝑅)2
Max KE = = KQ2/A
𝐴 2𝑚𝑝

K depends on machine parameters. It is property of machine,

independent of particle
 𝑞𝐵 As energy increases, mass increases. So resonance condition is
= disturbed. So classical cyclotron cannot be used to accelerate
𝜸𝑚0
relativistic particles.

1. Isochronous cyclotron: As energy increases rincreases, 𝜸 increases. So if B is increased with r to keep

 fixed, synchronism can be maintained.

𝐵 𝑞
=
𝜸 𝑚0

2. Frequency modulated cyclotron: As energy increases,  decreases. So to maintain resonance, rf is decreased.
 K=130, Cyclotron at
Kolkata

Superconducting Cyclotron
K=500
 Medical cyclotrons

IBA CYCLONE-30 at Chakgaria Campus, VECC Kolkata

It can produce proton beam up to 500 microA with a maximum
energy of 30 MeV. There are five external beam lines, one for
PET isotope production (mainly, FDG), two for SPECT isotope
production (Ga-67 and Tl-201 etc) and two beam lines for
research and development.
 Synchrotron Applications
1. Synchrotron Radiation Sources

p = qBr

As energy increases, p increases. So with

increases in p we have to increase either B or r.
In a cyclotron, r is increased.
In Synchrotron, B is increased.
2. High Energy Accelerators
Eg LHC at CERN
• Keep a constant circulation radius, varying B(t)
and frf(t).
SCHEMATIC OF INDUS COMPLEX at RRCAT, Indore &
SOME PICTURES
Booster Synchrotron
(700 MeV)

TL-1
Microtron
(20 MeV)

TL-2

TL-3

Indus-2, 2.5 GeV SR

Indus-1
(450 MeV, 100 mA)

Both Indus-1 & Indus-2 are being

run for users.
INDUS 1 and 2
RRCAT
 Microtron
Electron cyclotron

rf =  = fixed
B = fixed
Energy gain in each revolution is fixed = mec2
Trev = h x Trf h is an integer
 RF Acceleration L
E

E0
g
T/2 T
t 0-T/2
s

L = vt
=𝜷c x T/2 L = 𝜷𝝀/2
= 𝜷𝝀/2

The same small voltage can be used repeatedly to

accelerate to high energies provided the particle
arrives at each gap at the right time or in the right T/2-T
phase.
In order to use time varying field for acceleration
the beam must be bunched and synchronized with
the field
Energy gain in RF field

gap

L
Phase Stability
 Electromagnetic waves in free space

Boundary Conditions at a conducting boundary

Et at the surface of a conducting plane = 0

Bn at the surface of a conducting plane = 0

 Confined Waves
Modes in a string
 Z EM waves in conducting boundaries
Boundaries in 1 direction at y=0 and y=a
E = E(y)ei(kgz-𝝎t)
E = E0sin(kcy)ei(kgz-𝝎t)
This equation represents a
disturbance propagating along z axis
k’ k
Y with an apparent velocity
 
vg= ω/kg

and varying sinusoidaly along y axis

X with an effective wavelength
a
(c)n=2a/n, n = 1,2,3….
0
1 1 1
 
Propagated c Attenuated 0 2 g 2 c 2
For a given system, c is fixed. Now if 0 is increased (if free
space frequency is decreased), g also increases until 0 =
c. Then g becomes infinite.
Attenuated Hence any wave with 0 > c gets attenuated
Propagated
0
c
TE TM
mode mode

n=1 n=1

n=2 n=2

n=3 n=3
 Rectangular waveguide
Boundaries in 2 directions
x=0, x=a
y=0,y=b

Waveguides are used for transmission of RF power

 Rectangular waveguide
TE mode
Ez = 0

TM mode
Bz = 0
 End View

Side View

Field Patterns for the TE 10 Mode

 End View

Side View

Field Patterns of the TE 11 Mode

End View

Side View
 Cylindrical cavity
TM mode (mnp mode)
Bz = 0

Rc
r

nth zero of the Bessel Function Jm

TE mode (mnp mode)

Ez = 0
l

nth zero of the first derivative of

Bessel Function Jm
Bessel Function
 Modes in a cylindrical cavity
1. TM modes

m(m = 0,1,2, . . .) is the number of full period variations in  of the field components.
n(n = 1,2,3,. . .) is the number of zeros of the axial field component in the radial direction in the range 0 < r < R, excluding r = 0.
p(p = 0,1,2,. . .) is the number of half-period variations in z of the fields.

2. TE modes

m(m = 0,1,2, . . .) is the number of full-period variations in  of the field components.

n(n = 1 , 2 , 3 . . .) is the number of zeros of the axial field component in the radial direction in the range 0 < r < R, excluding r = 0.
p(p = 1,2,3,. . .) is the number of half-period variations in z of the fields.
TM modes in the cylindrical cavity
TE modes in the cylindrical cavity
 TM010 Accelerating mode
Electric Fields

Almost every RF cavity operates

Magnetic Fields
using the TM010 accelerating mode.
This mode has a longitudinal electric
field in the centre of the cavity which
accelerates the electrons.
The magnetic field loops around this
and caused ohmic heating.
A standing wave cavity

E
t
 1
RF Surface resistance Rsurface = 𝜎𝛿

Ptotal

Ptotal = Pc + Pbeam
Pc
Pbeam = Ib x W
Ib is the beam current
Pbeam
W is the energy gain
 Figure of Merits of an accelerating cavity
Quality Factor
Powering a RF Linac
 The Drift Tube Linac

The DTL tank is a resonant cavity excited in the TM010 mode.

It consists of drift tubes connected to tank by stems separated by gaps.
Quadrupoles are mounted in drift tubes for focusing.
 RFQ
Advantages of RFQ
The RFQ is a low velocity, high current linear accelerator with high
capture efficiency.
Ion sources need only to operate at low extraction and preacceleration
voltages to inject into the RFQ.
The RFQ output energy is well matched to the input energy requirement
of linacs that accelerate ions to higher energy.
The RFQ simultaneously Focuses, Bunches and Accelerates the beam.

Scheme of Radio-Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ)

accelerator (a) four-vane type and (b) four-rod
type
The acceleration is achieved
by longitudinal RF electric
fields and transversely
focused by RF electric
quadrupole fields.
 Principle Of RFQ

Particles experience alternate

gradient electric focusing which is
stronger than magnetic focusing for
low velocity particles.

The longitudinal fields for acceleration

are produced by modulating the
electrodes longitudinally.
By introducing modulations in the electrodes, a part of the originally
transverse fields is deviated into the longitudinal direction
 THE RFQ

Bunching, focusing and accelerating of charged particles along length of RFQ

 The RFQ has replaced the 750 keV Cockroft Walton /Buncher system.

The beam accelerated in a linac must be formed into bunches at the operating
frequency before acceleration.
In conventional bunchers 30-50% beam is lost.
RFQ uses adiabatic bunching to capture nearly 100% of beam from ion
source.
 TE Modes

Dipole mode Quadrupole mode used in

The RFQ operates in the TE210 like mode in the rf cavity
RFQ’s
One Section of LEDA-RFQ
Inter-digital H (IH) structure linac

TE111

*Advantages
High Q
High Z

*Disadvantages
Et≠0
Ez: non-uniform

( EPAC2000, Kesler, et al. )

After RFQ, the choice is between many structures - DTL, CCDTL, SDTL.

DTL CCDTL

SDTL
Electrical power from the mains to the beam is transferred via the following chain

Mains HV Power supply RF Source (klystron) Waveguide Cavity

For a normal conducting accelerator, the largest power loss has to be tolerated between Beam
the RF cavity and the beam. In order to establish the accelerating voltage V in the
cavity, RF currents are induced at its surface generating the heat Pd.

Efficiency  = PB/PT

For LEHIPA RFQ (50 keV – 3 MeV), 30 mA For LEHIPA DTL (3-20 MeV), 30 mA

 = 88.5 kW/500 kW = 17.7 %  = 510 kW/1800 kW = 28.3 %

Efficiency of normal conducting cavities is 20-30 %

 Surface Resistance
In NC structures,

10 ~ m 
2
Rs    0
 2
In SC Structures,

f 2 (GHz) Tc T
Rs ()  9 105 e  Rres ~ n
T (K )

RBCS
 = 1.92
Tc = 9.2 K Critical resistance
Rres = Residual resistance (It is determined by imperfections in the surface)
Surface currents (H) result in dissipation proportional to the surface
resistance (Rs).

The power dissipation in the cavity walls is given by

Pc(SC) = 10-5 – 10-6 times Pc(NC)

Quality Factor

Stored Energy
Q0(SC) = 105 - 106 times Q0(NC)
 Variation of BCS Resistance with temperature and RF
Frequency for Nb

1.0E-05
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4
1.0E-06

1.0E-07
BCS Resistance (ohm)
3 GHz

1.0E-08 2 GHz

1.5 GHz
1.0E-09
0.65 GHz

1.0E-10 0.325 GHz

0.1 GHz
1.0E-11

1.0E-12
Temp (K)

At lower frequencies, cavities can be operated at higher temperatures

 DC, CW and Pulsed beam
30

25
Current
20
DC beam DC Beam: The beam coming from the ion source or a DC
15 accelerator where the beam current is independent of time is
10
called a DC beam
5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Time
30
CW beam
25
rf period
CW Beam: The beam has to be bunched before acceleration
20 through a RF accelerator at the same frequency or harmonic of
Current

15
the accelerator frequency. This type of beam is called a
10
Continuous wave (CW) beam. The bunches are separated by a
5

0
time equal to the time period (1/f) of the applied RF field.
Time (ns)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718192021222324252627282930

Pulsed Beam: The applied RF is

pulsed.
Duty cycle= Pulse length*rep freq

For CW beam Duty cycle=100%

 Superconducting structures

Quarter wave resonator Spoke resonator

Half wave resonator

Multicell elliptical cavities

 Normal conducting vs Superconducting
Parameter Normal Superconducting
conducting
Length (cm) 10 10
Radius (cm) 7.65 7.65
Frequency (MHz) 1500 1500

V (MV) 1 1
T (K) 300 2
Rs (ohm) 10 x 10-3 20 x x10-9
Pd (W) 198000 0.4
Q 25500 1.3× 1010
 Why Superconductivity in RF linacs?
In normal conducting linac a huge amount of power is deposited in the copper
structure, in the form of heat, that needs to be removed by water cooling (in
order not to melt the structures). This limits the accelerating gradient.
Dissipated power can be much higher than the power transferred into the
beam for acceleration
Superconductivity, at the expenses of higher complexity, drastically reduces the
dissipated power and the cavities transfer more efficiently the RF power to the
beam.
Possibility to accelerate CW beams with high accelerating gradients
Larger aperture is possible in SC cavities, hence lesser probability of beam loss.
 Need to operate at cryogenic temperatures.
Superconducting cavity Processing

High Pressure Rinsing in clean room

Cavity assembly in clean rooms
The most critical part of an sc cavity is the surface. This comes from the
fact that the current flows with nearly no losses. Any contamination on
the surface will give rise to extra heat and will drastically increase the
losses. Due to the low thermal capacity at low temperatures even a
minute heat source may provoke a large increase in temperature.
Superconductivity may be destroyed. Therefore the critical steps of the
assembly are done in clean rooms.

Four-cavity module for LEP in a class 100 clean room

Testing of Superconducting cavities
Cavities in cryostat
 Magnetic field
Quadrupoles
A quadrupole has 4 poles, (2 North
and 2 South) arranged
symmetrically around the beam.
By No magnetic field along the central
axis
Bx

On the x (horizontal) axis the field

is vertical and is given by:-
By  x
On the y (vertical) axis the field is
horizontal and is given by:-
Bx  y
 Force on a particle

Fy

Fx

This example is a Focusing Quadrupole (QF) in x

It focuses the beam horizontally and defocuses vertically
Rotating the poles by 90 degrees we get a Defocusing
Quadrupole (QD) in y
Magnetic Quadrupole
Magnetic Dipole
 Beam Emittance
The beam phase space contours in a linac have
the approximate shape of an ellipse
Motion is along curves of
The general equation of the Beam ellipse constant Hamiltonian, .
is:
x 2  2xx' x2  
Where ,  and  are the Twiss parameters
related by:
1 
2


Emittance is defined as:
Area



2
RMS Emittance  rms  x x  xx
2 2
According to Louiville’s Theorem, the phase
space area of the beam does not change
under linear transformations.

This means that the beam emittance is

conserved in a linear transport system.
Medical applications
• Radiation Therapy
• The last decades: electron accelerators (converted to X-ray via a target)
are used very successfully for cancer therapy)

• Today's research: proton accelerators instead (hadron therapy): energy

deposition can be controlled better, but huge technical challenges

• Imaging
• Isotope production for PET scanners
 Proton therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells by damaging their DNA.
Radiation therapy can damage normal cells as well as cancer cells. Therefore, treatment must
be carefully planned to minimize side effects.
Proton therapy: External-beam radiation therapy can be delivered by proton beams as well as
the photon beams described above. Protons are a type of charged particle.
Proton beams differ from photon beams mainly in the way they deposit energy in living tissue.
Whereas photons deposit energy in small packets all along their path through tissue, protons
deposit much of their energy at the end of their path (called the Bragg peak) and deposit less
energy along the way.

At Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC),

Chennai
Advantages of proton / ion-therapy
PET- a diagnostic

Coincidence
Pulse Processing Unit

Data
Acquistion

18 F 110 mts
11C 20.4 mts
15 O 2.04 mts
13 N 10 mts
123 I 1.3 hrs
67 Ga 78 hrs
 Maximum Intensity Projection (MIPS) of a typical
18F wholebody PET acquisition

PET scans are increasingly read alongside CT scans or MRI scans, the
combination giving both anatomic and metabolic information
 Industrial applications
• Sterilization
– Sterilization of Medical Devices
– Food Pasteurization

• E-beam induced chemistry

– Crosslinking of Polymers
– Environment remediation

• E-Beam induced crystal defects

– Modification of Semiconductors
– Coloring of Gemstones
Radiation Processing of Foods
Sprout One Process : Quarantine
Inhibition Fruits
Onion, Potato,
ginger,Garlic
Multiple Uses

Insect
Disinfestation Shelf-life
Hygienization
Cereals, Pulses, Extension Spices, Flesh Foods
Dry Fruits Chicken, Meat, Fish
Delay in Ripening
Dose for delayed ripening
(0.25 – 0.75 kGy)

Radiation inhibits formation of the ripening

hormone ethylene
Synchrotron Light Sources
• the last two decades, enormous increase in the use of synchrotron radiation, emitted from particle
accelerators
• Can produce very intense light (radiation), at a wide range of frequencies (visible or not)
• Useful in a wide range of scientific applications
Synchrotron Radiation

• Radiation is produced within a light cone of

angle
1 511
  for speeds close to c
 E keV 
• For electrons in the range 90 MeV to 1 GeV,
 is in the range 10-4 - 10-5 degs.

• Such collimated beams can be directed with

high precision to a target - many
applications, for example, in industry.

94
The instantaneous rate of power emitted is half of the power is emitted above the critical
frequency, and half below
ωc is the critical frequency defined by

Total energy loss per turn

The equations governing the emission

of Synchrotron Radiation are the same
for both protons and electrons,
however the total power radiated is
inversely proportional to the 4th power
of the rest mass, while the critical
frequency of the spectrum varies as the
inverse of the mass to the 3rd power.
Thus, for the same energy and
magnetic field electrons radiate 1013
more power and with a critical frequency 6
x109 times higher.
• Higher photon energies can be produced if the insertion device field, and hence critical photon energy, is larger
than that of the bending magnets.
• If the device has a single high field pole, then it is often termed a wavelength shifter.
• If the device has several magnet poles, then the output flux and brightness are increased accordingly and the
device is generally called a multipole wiggler.
• If the parameters are such that interference effects are important, then very high brightness can be produced with a
line, rather than continuous, spectrum; in this case the device is usually termed an undulator.
Cargo Scanner
 Spallation Neutron Sources
For research on physical and biological materials, neutron beams with
enough brightness are in short supply. Just as we prefer a bright light to a
dim one to read the fine print in a book, researchers prefer a brighter
source of neutrons that will give more detailed snapshots of material
structure and make "movies" of molecules in motion. The SNS provides
these brighter neutron beams. Like a flashing strobe light providing high-
speed illumination of an object, the SNS can produce pulses of neutrons
every 17 milliseconds, with 10 times more neutrons than the most
powerful pulsed neutron sources previously available.
 Accelerator Driven System
High Intensity CW proton accelerator
(tens of mA, 1 GeV)

To Accelerator
To Grid Proton
beam
from 1
GeV
linac
Electricity ADS
productio subcritical
n Reactor

Target
Spallation
Advantages of an ADS over conventional reactors
Reaction zone
•Can use Thorium as fuel.
•Greater safety in operation. if the accelerator is turned off, the reactor stops
without the need to employ moderators to absorb neutrons.
•Incineration of radioactive waste.
•Energy Amplifier.
 ADS
Energy generation using Thorium
Transmutation Most cost effective way to produce
neutrons
Incineration

By Spallation process with GeV

energy protons striking on high Z
target.
Number of neutrons per proton
per Watt of beam power reaches a
plateau just above 1 GeV.
 s k
Pthermal ( MW )  E fission (MeV ) I ( A)
 1 k

Proton Energy : 1 GeV Pthermal (MW) I (mA)

νs = 25 neutrons/proton
ν = 2.5 neutrons/fission
1000 29.2
Pelectrical= 500 MW (1500 MWth) 1500 43.9
k = 0.95
2000 58.5
2500 73.1
3000 87.7
 Accelerator Driven System

Major challenges:
• CW operation
• High Beam Power (> 10 MW)
• Reliability

No such accelerator exists in the world today.

 Roadmap for Indian ADS Programme

LEHIPA @ BARC (First Phase)

 LEHIPA @ BARC: Front end linac for Indian ADS

Proton beam
1 GeV, 10 mA CW proton linac
~250 m

Linac will be built in 3 phases

First Phase is Low Energy High
Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA)

Under commissioning at BARC

20 MeV proton linac

~25 m IS RFQ DTL

 Some Accelerators in India
BARC
• LEHIPA (3 MeV, 1.3 mA, 50 𝝁s, 1Hz beam accelerated through RFQ)
• FOTIA (6 MV tandem DC accelerator)
• Pelletron-Linac facility at TIFR(14 MV pelletron and SC LINAC booster)
• 7 MeV Linac, Radiation & Photochemistry Division
• 14 MeV Neutron Generator (Cockroft-Walton type DC accelerator for p and D)
• ILU-EBA (5 MeV, 15 kW electron linac at BRIT, Vashi)
• 500 KeV, Electron accelerator, APPD, BRIT, Vashi
• 3 MeV electron Linac, Electron Beam Centre, Kharghar
• 10 MeV electron Linac, Electron Beam Centre, Kharghar
• Medical cyclotron, RMC, Parel, (H- ion is accelerated to 16.5 MeV and bombarded on enriched water (H2O18). )
• Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion source at 100 kV, NPD

RRCAT
INDUS1
INDUS2
………….

VECC
Cyclotron K130
SC Cyclotron K500
ISOL RIB
Medical cyclotron
ANURIB
IUAC
Pelletron linac facility
 Other Acceleration Techniques
Few GeV electron beams have been
accelerated over a few cms.
However beam emittance is high.
https://www.rrcat.gov.in/technology/laser/lpd/wea.html
The advantage of plasma acceleration is that its acceleration field can be
much stronger than that of conventional radio-frequency (RF) accelerators.
It is hoped that a compact particle accelerator can be created based on
plasma acceleration techniques or accelerators for much higher energy can
be built, if long accelerators are realizable with an accelerating field of 10
GV/m.
Plasma acceleration is categorized into several types according to how the
electron plasma wave is formed:
1. Plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA): The electron plasma wave is
formed by an electron or proton bunch.
2. Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA): A laser pulse is introduced to form
an electron plasma wave.
3. Laser beat-wave acceleration (LBWA): The electron plasma wave arises
based on different frequency generation of two laser pulses. The
"Surfatron" is an improvement on this technique
4. Self-modulated laser wakefield acceleration (SMLWFA): The formation
of an electron plasma wave is achieved by a laser pulse modulated by
stimulated Raman forward scattering instability.