Gamma radiation calculations and gamma blocker design for the high-energy beam transport region of the European Spallation Source

The purpose of this paper is to present the Monte-Carlo calculations performed to design a special element called gamma blocker (GB), necessary to stop the gamma radiation in the Accelerator-to-Target (A2T) section of European Spallation Source (ESS) linac. Very high levels of gamma radiation emitted backward from the activated target through the beam pipe could effectively block any human intervention close to the beam transport system. The residual dose rate in the linac tunnel was calculated without and with different GBs as a function of time. The final GB material and dimensions are proposed.

ENGINEERING OF THE LOW-ENERGY BEAM TRANSPORT LINE IN THE Не⁺ IONS LINAC

The design of a low-energy beam transport line in the helium ions linear accelerator is proposed. For experiments with the low-energy helium ions the vacuum chamber in a transport line is in addition included for an irradiation of investigated materials. The mathematical modeling method investigates coordination variants of an injector beam output emittance with an accelerating structure acceptance with use of electromagnetic quadrupole lenses, electrostatic lenses and the focusing solenoid. It is shown that the optimal variant, ad hoc, is the focusing solenoid application. The calculated value of a current of the helium accelerated ions makes 4.5 mА.

The photon beamline vacuum system of the European XFEL

The photon beamline vacuum system of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (European XFEL) is described. The ultra-large, in total more than 3 km-long, fan-like vacuum system, consisting of three photon beamlines is an essential part of the photon beam transport. It is located between the accelerator vacuum system and the scientific instruments. The main focus of the design was on the efficiency, reliability and robustness of the entire system to ensure the retention of beam properties and the operation of the X-ray optics and X-ray photon diagnostics components. Installation started in late 2014, the first of the three beamline vacuum systems was commissioned in spring 2017, and the last one was operational in mid-2018. The present state and experience from the first years of operation are outlined.

Anomalous Beam Transport through Gabor (Plasma) Lens Prototype

An electron plasma lens is a cost-effective, compact, strong-focusing element that can ensure efficient capture of low-energy proton and ion beams from laser-driven sources. A Gabor lens prototype was built for high electron density operation at Imperial College London. The parameters of the stable operation regime of the lens and its performance during a beam test with 1.4 MeV protons are reported here. Narrow pencil beams were imaged on a scintillator screen 67 cm downstream of the lens. The lens converted the pencil beams into rings that show position-dependent shape and intensity modulation that are dependent on the settings of the lens. Characterisation of the focusing effect suggests that the plasma column exhibited an off-axis rotation similar to the m=1 diocotron instability. The association of the instability with the cause of the rings was investigated using particle tracking simulations.