Beam stripping interactions in compact cyclotrons

TL;DR

This paper evaluates beam stripping losses in compact cyclotrons caused by residual gas and electromagnetic interactions, and proposes a method to optimize beam current by adjusting ion source parameters.

Contribution

It introduces the implementation of stripping interactions into the OPAL beam dynamics code for better loss estimation in compact cyclotrons.

Findings

Stripping losses significantly affect beam quality in compact cyclotrons.

Optimizing vacuum levels reduces stripping losses and improves beam current.

The method aids in designing more efficient compact cyclotron accelerators.

Abstract

Beam stripping losses of H- ion beams by interactions with residual gas and electromagnetic fields are evaluated. These processes play an important role in compact cyclotrons where the beam is produced on an internal ion source, and they operate under high magnetic field. The implementation of stripping interactions into the beam dynamics code OPAL provides an adequate framework to estimate the stripping losses for compact cyclotrons such as AMIT. The analysis is focused on optimizing the high energy beam current delivered to the target. The optimization is performed by adjusting parameters of the ion source to regulate the vacuum level inside the accelerator and minimize the beam stripping losses.