Beam dynamics design of an energy-variable superconducting heavy ion accelerator

This dissertation describes the development of the beam dynamics design of a novel superconducting linear accelerator. At a main operating frequency of 216.816 MHz, ions with a mass-to-charge ratio of up to 6 can be accelerated at high duty cycles up to CW operation. Intended for construction at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, the focus of the work is on the beam dynamic design of the accelerator section downstream of the high charge injector (HLI) at an injection energy of 1.39 MeV/u. An essential feature of this linear accelerator (Linac) is the use of the EQUUS (Equidistant Multigap Structure) beam dynamics concept for a variably adjustable output energy between 3.5 and 7.3 MeV/u (corresponding to about 12.4 % of the speed of light) with a required low energy spread of maximum 3 keV/u. The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research is a large-scale research facility that uses its particle accelerators to perform basic research with ion beams. Research on super-heavy elements ("SHE") is a major focus. It is expected that their production and research will provide answers to a large number of scientific questions. The production and detection of elements with atomic numbers 107 to 112 (Bohrium, Hassium, Meitnerium, Darmstadtium, Röntgenium and Copernicium) was first achieved at GSI between 1981 and 1996. Key to this remarkable progress in SHE research were continuous developments and technical innovations. On the one hand, in the field of experimental sensitivity and detection of the nuclear reaction products and, on the other hand, in the field of accelerator technology. For the acceleration of the projectile beam, the UNILAC (Universal Linear Accelerator), which was put into operation in 1975, has been used at GSI so far. In the course of the reconstruction and expansion of the research infrastructure at GSI, a dedicated new particle accelerator, HELIAC (Helmholtz Linear Accelerator), is now under development to meet the special requirements of the beam parameters for the synthesis of new superheavy elements. Typically, the production rates of super-heavy elements with effective cross sections in the picobarn range are very low. Therefore, a high duty cycle (up to CW operation) is a key feature of HELIAC. Thus, the required beam time for the desired nuclear reactions can be significantly shortened. Theoretical preliminary work by Minaev et al. and newly created knowledge about design, fabrication, and operation of superconducting drift tube cavities have laid the foundation for this work and thus the development of the HELIAC linear accelerator. It consists of a superconducting and a normal conducting part. Acceleration takes place in the superconducting part in four cryomodules, each about 5 m long. These contain three CH cavities, one buncher cavity, two solenoid magnets for transverse beam focusing, and two beam position monitors (BPMs). The following 10 m long normal conducting part is primarily used for beam transport and ends with a buncher cavity. This is operated at a halved frequency of 108.408 MHz. A key feature of this accelerator is the variability of the output energy from 3.5 to 7.3 MeV/u with a small energy uncertainty of ±3 keV/u maximum over the entire output energy range. For the development of HELIAC, the EQUUS beam dynamics concept used combined the advantages of conventional linac designs with the high acceleration gradients of superconducting CH-DTLs. By doubling the frequency (compared to the GSI high charge injector) to 216.816 MHz in the superconducting section and using CH cavities at an acceleration gradient of maximum 7.1 MV/m, an acceleration efficiency with superconducting drift tube structures that is unique in the world is made possible. At the same time, the compact lengths of the CH cavities ensure good handling for both production and operation. EQUUS leads to longitudinal beam stability in all energy ranges of the accelerator with the sliding motion of the synchronous phase within each CH cavity. The rms emittance growth is moderate in all levels. The modular design of the HELIAC with four cryomodules basically allows the Linac to be commissioned starting with the first cryomodule, the so-called Advanced Demonstrator. In the subsequent expansion stage with only the first two cryomodules of HELIAC, the lower limit of the energy range to be provided by HELIAC (3.5 MeV/u) can already be clearly exceeded, so that use in regular beam operation at GSI is already conceivable from here on. By means of error tolerance studies, the stability of the HELIAC beam dynamics design against possible alignment errors of the magnetic focusing elements and accelerator cavities as well as errors of the electric field amplitudes and phases have been investigated, basically confirmed and critical parameters have been determined. An additional steering concept via dipole correction coils at the solenoid magnets allows transverse beam control as well as diagnostics by means of two BPMs per cryomodule. With completion of this work in 2021, the CH1 and CH2 cavities have already been built and are in the final preparation and cold test phase. In parallel, the development of the CH cavities CH3-11 has also been started.

Solid cyclooctatetraene-based triplet quencher demonstrating excellent suppression of singlet–triplet annihilation in optical and electrical excitation

Triplet excitons have been identified as the major obstacle to the realisation of organic laser diodes, as accumulation of triplet excitons leads to significant losses under continuous wave (CW) operation and/or electrical excitation. Here, we report the design and synthesis of a solid-state organic triplet quencher, as well as in-depth studies of its dispersion into a solution processable bis-stilbene-based laser dye. By blending the laser dye with 20 wt% of the quencher, negligible effects on the ASE thresholds, but a complete suppression of singlet–triplet annihilation (STA) and a 20-fold increase in excited-state photostability of the laser dye under CW excitation, were achieved. We used small-area OLEDs (0.2 mm2) to demonstrate efficient STA suppression by the quencher in the nanosecond range, supported by simulations to provide insights into the observed STA quenching under electrical excitation. The results demonstrate excellent triplet quenching ability under both optical and electrical excitations in the nanosecond range, coupled with excellent solution processability.

Microchip Nd:YAG and Nd:YVO4 Lasers Pumped by VHG Wavelength-Stabilized Laser Diode

We adopted a single-mode, single-wavelength volume holographic grating (VHG) wavelength-stabilized wavelength laser diode (LD) as a pumping LD for an end-pumped microchip Nd:YAG and Nd:YVO4 lasers we developed during CW and pulse operations. Higher optical-optical and slope efficiencies during CW operation have been obtained than when using a VHG LD experimentally. Output laser power is insensitive to the temperature of the LD when using a wavelength-stabilized LD and can remain stable and almost constant until the temperature of LD increases up to 40°C. The improved optical-optical conversion efficiency of 58% for the Nd:YVO4 laser has been obtained and calculated the output laser power during CW operation and compared it with the experimental results. We found that the output laser power of the Nd:YVO4 laser using the VHG wavelength-stabilized LD was more than twice as high as that using an LD without VHG. When the ambient temperature increases, the difference in output laser power should be large. In the future, a low-cost end-pumped microchip laser that does not require a temperature control should be developed.