Measurements of the micro-spill structure of medical cyclotron and synchrotron beams and its impact on pulse pileup

TL;DR

This study measures the micro-spill structure of medical cyclotron and synchrotron beams using high-frequency SiC sensors, revealing detailed timing features crucial for optimizing particle detection and reducing pileup.

Contribution

It introduces a novel high-frequency SiC sensor-based method for sub-nanosecond characterization of beam time structures at medical accelerator facilities.

Findings

Micro-spill structures exhibit modulation with RF frequencies.

Resolved structures enable estimation of pileup contributions.

Results inform design constraints for future readout electronics.

Abstract

Detector characterization and instrumentation testing are often performed at cyclotron and synchrotron facilities, many of which were originally developed for medical applications in cancer therapy. For particle physics experiments requiring a single-particle resolution, pileup can significantly degrade data quality, making precise knowledge of the beam time structure essential for selecting appropriate readout parameters. However, such information is often unavailable from the facilities and challenging to determine experimentally. Here, we report measurements of the spill time structure at two medical accelerator facilities using a silicon carbide (SiC) particle sensor coupled to a high-frequency readout system. Owing to its high carrier saturation velocity and the tolerance to large bias voltages, SiC is well suited for fast readout and measurements requiring precise timing. Using a 6 GHz readout with custom SiC diodes, we characterize the micro-spill structure of both cyclotron and synchrotron beams on a sub-nanosecond timescale. The measured arrival-time distributions exhibit modulation with the accelerator RF frequencies, reflecting features of the extraction process. The resolved micro-spill structure enables quantitative estimation of pileup contributions and provides design constraints for future readout electronics. The presented results emphasize the importance of the characterization of the beam time-structure characterization for the development of precise readout systems.