Design of a large energy acceptance beamline using fixed field accelerator optics

Abstract

Large energy acceptance arcs have been proposed for applications such as cancer therapy, muon accelerators, and recirculating linacs. The efficacy of hadron therapy can be improved by reducing the energy layer switching time, however this is currently limited by the small momentum acceptance of the beam delivery system ($<\pm 1\%$). A “closed-dispersion arc” with a large momentum acceptance has the potential to remove this bottleneck, however such a beamline has not yet been constructed. We have developed a design methodology for large momentum acceptance arcs with Fixed Field Accelerator optics, applying it to a demonstrator beam delivery system for protons at 0.5–3.0 MeV ($\pm 42\%$ momentum acceptance) as part of the Technology for Ultra-Rapid Beam Operation project at the University of Melbourne. Using realistic magnetic fields, a beamline has been designed with zero dispersion at either end. An algorithm has been devised for the construction of permanent magnet Halbach arrays for this beamline with multipole error below one part in ${10}^4$, using commercially available magnets. The sensitivity to errors has been investigated, finding that the delivered beam is robust in realistic conditions. This study demonstrates that a closed-dispersion arc with fixed fields can achieve a large momentum acceptance, and we outline future work required to develop these ideas into a complete proof-of-principle beam delivery system that can be scaled up for a medical facility.