Continuous operation of 2.45-GHz microwave proton source for 306 hours with more than 50 mA DC beam

This paper describes a long-term operation of the 2.45-GHz microwave proton source at Peking University. The DC proton beam of 50–55 mA with energy of 35 keV has been run for 306 hours continuously. Total beam availability,defined as 35-keV beam-on time divided by elapsed time, is higher than 99%. Water cooling machine failures cause all the downtime, and no plasma generator failure or high voltage breakdown is observed. The longest uninterrupted run time is122 hours.

The Characterisitic of Proton-Exchanged LiNbO_3 Waveguide Formed by Different Proton Source

Benzoic acid as a source of proton is widely used in the technology of manufacture of proton exchanged ( PE) waveguide .But the diffusing speed of proton is too fast to make the waveguide stable in the pure benzoic acid. The characteristic of waveguide is improved with mixture of benzoic acid and lithium benzoate .

Design of a multi-cusp ion source for proton therapy

The permanent magnets of the discharge chamber in a multi-cusp proton source are studied and designed. The three electrode extraction system is adopted and simulated. A method to extract different amounts of current while keeping the beam emittance unchanged is proposed.

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision simulation of the electron energy distribution function in the multi-cusp ion source for proton therapy

For optimization and accurate prediction of the amount of proton production in the multi-cusp ion source, analysis of the electron energy distribution function （EEDF） is necessary. A three dimensional particlein-cell with Monte Carlo collision （PIC-MCC） code based on the CHIPIC software platform are developed. The code is applied to the multi-cusp proton source. The results show that there are two energy distributions in the discharge chamber, and a spatial non-uniformity of electron density due to the B×▽B drift of the top permanent magnets is observed.

Acceleration of 60 MeV proton beams in the commissioning experiment of the SULF-10 PW laser

We report the experimental results of the commissioning phase in the 10 PW laser beamline of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility(SULF).The peak power reaches 2.4 PW on target without the last amplifying during the experiment.The laser energy of 72±9 J is directed to a focal spot of approximately 6μm diameter(full width at half maximum)in 30 fs pulse duration,yielding a focused peak intensity around 2.0×10^(21)W/cm^(2).The first laser-proton acceleration experiment is performed using plain copper and plastic targets.High-energy proton beams with maximum cut-off energy up to 62.5 MeV are achieved using copper foils at the optimum target thickness of 4μm via target normal sheath acceleration.For plastic targets of tens of nanometers thick,the proton cut-off energy is approximately 20 MeV,showing ring-like or flamented density distributions.These experimental results reflect the capabilities of the SULF-10 PW beamline,for example,both ultrahigh intensity and relatively good beam contrast.Further optimization for these key parameters is underway,where peak laser intensities of 10^(22)-10^(23)w/cm^(2)are anticipated to support various experiments on extreme field physics.

Mapping non-laminar proton acceleration in laser-driven target normal sheath field

We report on experimental observation of non-laminar proton acceleration modulated by a strong magnetic field in laser irradiating micrometer aluminum targets.The results illustrate the coexistence of ring-like and filamentation structures.We implement the knife edge method into the radiochromic film detector to map the accelerated beams,measuring a source size of 30-110μm for protons of more than 5 MeV.The diagnosis reveals that the ring-like profile originates from low-energy protons far off the axis whereas the filamentation is from the near-axis high-energy protons,exhibiting non-laminar features.Particle-in-cell simulations reproduced the experimental results,showing that the short-term magnetic turbulence via Weibel instability and the long-term quasi-static annular magnetic field by the streaming electric current account for the measured beam profile.Our work provides direct mapping of laser-driven proton sources in the space-energy domain and reveals the non-laminar beam evolution at featured time scales.

Proposal for muon and white neutron sources at CSNS

The China Spallation Neutron Source （CSNS） is a large scientific facility with the main purpose of serving multidisciplinary research on material characterization using neutron scattering techniques. The accelerator system is to provide a proton beam of 120 kW with a repetition rate of 25 Hz initially （CSNSⅠ）, progressively upgradeable to 240 kW （CSNS-Ⅱ） and 500 kW （CSNS-Ⅱ＇）. In addition to serving as a driving source for the spallation target, the proton beam can be exploited for serving additional functions both in fundamental and applied research. The expanded scientific application based on pulsed muons and fast neutrons is especially attractive in the overall consideration of CSNS upgrade options. A second target station that houses a muon-generating target and a fast-neutron-generating target in tandem, intercepting and removing a small part of the proton beam for the spallation target, is proposed. The muon and white neutron sources are operated principally in parasitic mode, leaving the main part of the beam directed to the spallation target. However, it is also possible to deliver the proton beam to the second target station in a dedicated mode for some special applications. Within the dual target configuration, the thin muon target placed upstream of the fast-neutron target will consume only about 5% of the beam traversed; the majority of the beam is used for fast-neutron production. A proton beam with a beam power of about 60 kW, an energy of 1.6 GeV and a repetition rate of 12.5 Hz will make the muon source and the white neutron source very attractive to multidisciplinary researchers.

Study of an unfolding algorithm for D-T neutron energy spectra measurement using a recoil proton method

A proton recoil method for measuring D-T neutron energy spectra using polyethylene film and a Si（Au）surface barrier detector is presented. An iteration algorithm for unfolding the recoil proton energy spectrum to the neutron energy spectrum is investigated. The response matrices R of the polyethylene film at angles of 0o and45o were obtained by simulating the recoil proton energy spectra from mono-energetic neutrons using the MCNPX code. With an assumed D-T neutron spectrum, the recoil proton spectra from the polyethylene film at angles of 0oand 45owere also simulated using the MCNPX code. Based on the response matrices R and the simulated recoil proton spectra at 0oand 45o, the respective unfolded neutron spectra were obtained using the iteration algorithm,and compared with the assumed neutron spectrum. The results show that the iteration algorithm method can be applied to unfold the recoil proton energy spectrum to the neutron energy spectrum for D-T neutron energy spectra measurement using the recoil proton method.