Bending System for Recirculating Accelerators with Space-Charged Dominated Beams

41292 November 19, 1996 FM Technologies, Inc. A radically new type of particle accelerator, a multiturn recirculating linac operating with space-charge dominated beam currents, has received considerable attention during the last few years. Even with severe limits on the number of turns, the concept potentially offers major cost reductions for a very high intensity accelerator. This project will develop and characterize methods for bending space-charge-dominated beams, and will also develop injection and extraction devices. In Phase I, a three-dimensional particle-in-cell computer code will be used to study the beam dynamics and guide the preliminary design of critical components for the injection and bending systems, including the use of Panofsky quadrupoles. The code will also be compared with beam transport experiments in a straight lattice. Phase II will be devoted to detailed design and fabrication of injection systems, collaborative experiments on the bending of space-charge-dominated beams, and characterization of beam performance in these systems. In particular, the critical issues of emittance growth and effect of energy dispersion will be characterized so that applications can be developed based on model performance. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Applications include a variety of advanced accelerators and beam transport systems where greatly increased beam intensity is required and bending is necessary for operation. These include fast, high-current, booster synchrotrons, intense pulsed neutron generators, high-current ion accelerators or energy production based on thorium burning, heavy-ion accelerators for inertial fusion drivers, accelerator-based waste transmutation systems, and free electron lasers.