Design of the 7 MeV/u, 217 MHz Injector Linac for the Proposed Ion Beam Facility for Cancer Therapy at the Clinic in Heidelberg

TL;DR

This paper details the design of a 7 MeV/u, 217 MHz injector linac for a cancer therapy facility, including ion sources, RFQ, and drift tube linac, tailored for proton and ion beam therapy.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive design of the injector linac for ion therapy, including ion source selection, RFQ, and IH-type linac, optimized for clinical cancer treatment applications.

Findings

Ion source test results demonstrate suitability for therapy beams.

Design achieves acceleration from 8 keV/u to 7 MeV/u within compact structure.

RF structures operate effectively at 216.816 MHz for multiple ion species.

Abstract

A dedicated clinical synchrotron facility for cancer therapy using energetic proton and ion beams (C, He and O) has been designed at GSI for the Radiologische Universitaetsklinik at Heidelberg, Germany. The design of the injector linac is presented. Suitable ion sources are discussed and results of ion source test measurements are reported. The LEBT allows for switching between two ion sources. A short RFQ accelerates the ions from 8 keV/u to 400 keV/u. It is followed by a very compact beam matching section and a 3.8 m long IH-type drift tube linac for the acceleration to 7 MeV/u. Both rf structures are designed for a resonance frequency of 216.816 MHz and for ion mass-to-charge ratios up to A/q = 3 (12C4+, (H_3)+, 3He+, 16O6+).