A rotor-based multileaf collimator for beam shaping

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel rotor-based multileaf collimator (RMLC) design that uses rotors with angularly dependent radii for beam shaping, reducing actuator complexity and enabling precise, adaptable control for ultra-high vacuum applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces the RMLC design with a padlock-inspired mechanism allowing independent control of multiple leaves using a single motor, significantly reducing actuator count for UHV-compatible beam shaping.

Findings

Design successfully controls dozens of leaves independently

Simulation demonstrates effective feed-forward control system

Reduces number of actuators and vacuum feedthroughs needed

Abstract

We introduce a new style of multileaf collimator which employs rotors with angularly dependent radius to control the masking aperture: a rotor-based multileaf collimator (RMLC). Using a padlock-inspired mechanism, a single motor can set dozens of rotors, i.e. leaves, independently. This is especially important for an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) compatible MLC, since this reduces the number of actuators and vacuum feedthroughs required by more than an order of magnitude. This new RMLC will complement previous work employing a UHV compatible MLC with an emittance exchange beamline to create arbitrarily shaped beams on demand. A feed-forward control system which abstracts away the complexity of the RMLC operation, and is adaptable to real beamline conditions, is discussed and demonstrated in simulation.