High-power proton accelerators for pulsed spallation neutron sources

With the spread of accelerator-driven pulsed spallation neutron sources and increasing need for higher neutron fluxes, the high-power performance of proton accelerators has greatly advanced from a few kilowatts to more than 1 MW in the last four decades. The most important concerns to realize such a high-power beam operation are controlling and minimizing beam loss, which are essential for sustainable beam operation that allows hands-on maintenance. This paper reviews key devices and beam handling techniques for beam loss control employed in the high-power proton accelerators that are currently in operation for pulsed spallation neutron sources, including their operational status and future upgrade plan.

ELIMED: MEDICAL APPLICATION AT ELI-BEAMLINES. STATUS OF THE COLLABORATION AND FIRST RESULTS

ELI-Beamlines is one of the four pillars of the ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) pan-European project. It will be an ultrahigh-intensity, high repetition-rate, femtosecond laser facility whose main goal is to generate and apply high-brightness X-ray sources and accelerated charged particles. In particular, medical applications are treated by the ELIMED task force, which has been launched by collaboration between ELI and INFN researchers. ELIMED aims to demonstrate the clinical applicability of laser accelerated ions. In this article, the state of the ELIMED project and the first scientific results are reported. The design and realisation of a preliminary beam handling system and of an advanced spectrometer for diagnostics of high energy (multi-MeV) laser-accelerated ion beams will also be briefly presented.