Configurable particle accelerator device

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of accelerators, and relates to a configurable particle accelerator device, which comprises an ion source used for generating different kinds of particle beams; the radio frequency four-stage accelerator is used for pre-focusing and pre-accelerating different types of particle beams; the superconducting acceleration module comprises a plurality of different types of acceleration units, and each acceleration unit comprises one or more focusing magnets and an acceleration cavity connected with the focusing magnets. Different kinds of particle beams subjected to pre-focusing and pre-acceleration can be accelerated; and the high-energy transmission module is used for transmitting the beam passing through the superconducting acceleration module to a beam terminal in a matching manner. The acceleration unit is flexibly configured according to actual function requirements, the design and construction complexity of the accelerator is reduced, and the application flexibility of the accelerator is improved under the condition that infrastructures are not changed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a configurable particle accelerator device, belonging to the technical field of particle accelerators. Background Art

[0002] As an advanced particle accelerator device, superconducting linear accelerator has the characteristics of high efficiency, small size and low power consumption. It is widely used in medical cancer treatment, isotope production, material irradiation, neutron source and other scientific research, medical health and industrial production. In recent years, in order to meet the needs of microscopic scientific research and nuclear material transmutation, many large-scale superconducting linear accelerator construction projects with energy levels of hundreds of megaelectronvolts (MeV) and gigaelectronvolts (GeV) have been launched and implemented internationally. In addition, hospitals and radiotherapy centers in many countries have also introduced superconducting linear accelerators for radiotherapy to provide high-quality medical services.

[0003] For large superconducting accelerators, changes in the performance of the acceleration equipment along the line will directly affect the operating status and performance of the accelerator, and may even limit the use of the accelerator. Therefore, without changing the infrastructure, adjusting the layout of the acceleration unit according to the operating status of the accelerator is of great significance to improving the application flexibility of the accelerator.

[0004] Superconducting linear accelerators achieve efficient particle acceleration at low power consumption by placing the acceleration cavity and focusing magnet in a cryostat and keeping them in a superconducting state. Superconducting cavities have a high energy carrying capacity, so one type of superconducting cavity can cover a certain range of beam energies. For high-energy accelerators, it is necessary to select a variety of cavity types with optimal β values ​​according to the energy span for combined application in order to accelerate particles to the target energy. At the same time, in order to ensure that the cavity and magnet remain in a superconducting state, a corresponding cryogenic system is required. Therefore, compared with traditional room-temperature accelerators, superconducting linear accelerators are more expensive to build, usually ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.

[0005] At present, the design and construction of superconducting linear accelerators are mostly planned according to the purpose of accelerating a single type of particles. The structural design of each thermostat unit is designed to functionally match the type of particles that need to be accelerated, and is independent and determined in spatial layout. This layout scheme can fully meet the needs of a single design and accelerated operation near the design parameters, but it is not flexible enough to meet the needs of accelerating other types of particles. With fixed infrastructure, this undoubtedly increases the limitations of accelerator applications.

[0006] In addition to the above limitations, when the performance of some hardware in a large superconducting linear accelerator drops significantly or a small number of cavities fail, the current main response strategy is to compensate for energy by increasing the acceleration gradient of the cavity. However, this method has certain limitations and can only deal with small drops in cavity performance and individual cavity failures. If the cavity performance in a certain thermostat module drops significantly, significantly increasing the cavity acceleration gradient may cause the stability and reliability of the cavity operation to decrease, and even affect beam transmission, making the accelerator unable to operate normally. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of the above problems, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a configurable particle accelerator device, which can flexibly configure the acceleration unit according to actual functional requirements. On the one hand, it can greatly reduce the complexity of accelerator design and construction, and on the other hand, it can greatly improve the flexibility of accelerator application without changing the infrastructure.

[0008] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention proposes the following technical solutions: a configurable particle accelerator device, comprising: an ion source, a radio frequency four-stage accelerator, a superconducting acceleration module and a high-energy transmission module; the ion source is used to generate different types of particle beams; the radio frequency four-stage accelerator is used to pre-focus and pre-accelerate the different types of particle beams; the superconducting acceleration module comprises a plurality of different types of acceleration units, each of which comprises a focusing magnet and a radio frequency cavity connected to the focusing magnet; the superconducting acceleration module can accelerate different types of pre-focused and pre-accelerated particle beams by combining and splicing different types of acceleration units; the high-energy transmission module is used to match and transmit the beam passing through the superconducting acceleration module to the beam terminal.

[0009] Furthermore, the radio frequency cavity includes an accelerating cavity, a coupler and a tuner. The coupler is connected to the accelerating cavity and is used to perform power coupling on particles in the accelerating cavity; the tuner is connected to the accelerating cavity and is used to adjust the frequency of the accelerating cavity.

[0010] Furthermore, the focusing magnet and the accelerating cavity in the accelerating unit are connected in series through a vacuum pipe. There are one or more focusing magnets. The layouts of the focusing magnets and the accelerating cavities of different types of accelerating units are different. Each accelerating unit is connected through a vacuum pipe. According to the different accelerated particles, the accelerating units can be flexibly configured with the low-temperature thermostat as a unit.

[0011] Furthermore, the acceleration gradient of the accelerating cavity is greater than 5 MV / m.

[0012] Furthermore, the different types of particle beams include continuous wave particle beams or pulse wave particle beams.

[0013] Furthermore, the extraction high voltage of the ion source is 20 kV to 100 kV.

[0014] Furthermore, the particle accelerator device also includes a low-energy transmission module, which includes a plurality of solenoids and secondary magnets. The solenoids are connected to the accelerator entrance and are used to match the beam generated by the ion source to the accelerator entrance. The secondary magnets are used to select the beam, optimize the edge angle, and realize symmetrical transmission of the beam.

[0015] Furthermore, the particle accelerator device also includes a medium energy transmission module, which includes a quadrupole magnet and a bunching cavity. The quadrupole magnet and the bunching cavity are connected in series through a vacuum pipe to meet the matching of the beam from the radio frequency quadrupole accelerator to the lower acceleration section.

[0016] Furthermore, the beam energy at the exit of the radio frequency four-stage accelerator is 500keV to 5MeV.

[0017] Furthermore, the high energy transmission module includes a quadrupole magnet, a dipole magnet and a functional magnet, which are connected in series through a vacuum pipe; the quadrupole magnet and the dipole magnet are used to transmit the beam matching to the beam terminal, and the functional magnet is used to obtain beam parameters that meet the terminal requirements. The technical solution of the present invention has at least the following technical effects or advantages: The present invention adopts a modular design, and according to the functional requirements of the accelerator, uses an accelerating cavity with a large acceptance, and configures the accelerator with a cryogenic module with the same physical space parameters as a basic unit. This modular design can not only meet a variety of acceleration requirements, but also significantly reduce the construction complexity and cost of the accelerator.

[0018] The solution of the present invention is more flexible in configuration. When the basic supporting facilities remain unchanged, by reconfiguring the cryogenic module, a set of superconducting linear accelerator devices can accelerate multiple particles. This not only improves the application flexibility of the accelerator, but also indirectly reduces the construction cost of the accelerator. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a configurable particle accelerator device in one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the present invention is described in detail through specific embodiments. However, it should be understood that the provision of specific embodiments is only for a better understanding of the present invention, and they should not be understood as limitations of the present invention. In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms used are only for the purpose of description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0021] In order to solve the problems that the design and construction of superconducting linear accelerators in the prior art are mostly planned according to the purpose of accelerating a single type of particles, and if the cavity performance in a certain thermostat module is greatly reduced, a significant increase in the cavity acceleration gradient may lead to a decrease in cavity operation stability and reliability, and even affect beam transmission, thereby making the accelerator unable to operate normally. The present invention proposes a configurable particle accelerator device, which mainly includes a modular acceleration unit, and the acceleration unit can be flexibly configured according to actual functional requirements. On the one hand, it can greatly reduce the complexity of accelerator design and construction, and on the other hand, it can greatly improve the flexibility of accelerator application without changing the infrastructure.

[0022] This embodiment discloses a configurable particle accelerator device, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes: an ion source 1, a low-energy transmission module 2, a radio frequency four-stage accelerator 3, a medium-energy transmission module 4, a superconducting acceleration module 5 and a high-energy transmission module 6.

[0023] The ion source 1 is used to generate different types of particle beams. In this embodiment, the different types of particle beams include continuous wave particle beams or pulse wave particle beams. The extraction high voltage of the ion source 1 is 20 kV to 100 kV.

[0024] The low energy transmission module 2 includes several solenoids and secondary magnets. The solenoids are connected to the accelerator entrance and are used to match the beam generated by the ion source 1 to the accelerator entrance. The secondary magnets are used to select and analyze the beam, optimize the edge angle, and realize symmetrical transmission of the beam.

[0025] The radio frequency four-stage accelerator 3 is used to pre-focus and pre-accelerate different types of particle beams so as to facilitate further injection into the lower-stage accelerator. The beam energy at the outlet of the radio frequency four-stage accelerator 3 is 500keV to 5MeV.

[0026] The medium energy transmission module 4 includes one or several quadrupole magnets and several focusing cavities to meet the matching of the beam from the radio frequency quadrupole accelerator to the lower acceleration section, thereby realizing high-efficiency transmission of the beam.

[0027] The superconducting acceleration module 5 is used to realize rapid energy increase of the beam, and includes a plurality of different types of acceleration units, each of which includes one or more focusing magnets and a radio frequency cavity connected to the focusing magnet. The physical space information of each acceleration unit is the same. The superconducting acceleration module 5 can accelerate different types of particle beams that have been pre-focused and pre-accelerated by combining and splicing different types of acceleration units. It can realize flexible configuration for effective acceleration of different particles or the same type of particles under different equipment operating states without changing the basic supporting conditions, so as to meet the different functional requirements of the accelerator.

[0028] In this embodiment, the focusing magnet and the RF cavity are connected in vacuum through bellows and flanges. The RF cavity includes an accelerating cavity, a coupler and a tuner. The coupler is connected to the accelerating cavity for power coupling of particles in the accelerating cavity; the tuner is connected to the accelerating cavity for adjusting the frequency of the accelerating cavity. The accelerating units are connected by vacuum pipes. In a certain fixed energy range, the accelerating units have the same structure; in an energy range with a relatively large energy span, the accelerating units have different structures.

[0029] The focusing magnet and the accelerating cavity in the accelerating unit are connected in series through a vacuum pipe. There are one or more focusing magnets. The layout of the focusing magnet and the accelerating cavity of different types of accelerating units is different. Each accelerating unit is connected through a vacuum pipe. According to the different accelerated particles, the accelerating unit is flexibly configured with a low temperature thermostat as a unit. In this embodiment, the acceleration gradient of the accelerating cavity is greater than 5MV / m.

[0030] The high energy transmission module 6 is used to transmit the beam matching through the superconducting acceleration module 5 to the beam terminal. The high energy transmission module 6 includes a quadrupole magnet, a dipole magnet and a functional magnet. The quadrupole magnet and the dipole magnet are used to transmit the beam matching to the beam terminal. The functional magnet is used to obtain beam parameters that meet the terminal requirements.

[0031] Different ion beams enter the radio frequency quadrupole accelerator through low-energy transmission lines for pre-acceleration, and are then injected into the downstream superconducting acceleration section, which is composed of multiple cryogenic acceleration units, each of which has multiple superconducting cavities and focusing magnets built in. The cryogenic acceleration units have the same physical length and modular characteristics. They can be flexibly configured according to the type of accelerated particles while achieving rapid energy increase. This embodiment uses a modular design method for the acceleration unit to achieve the purpose of flexible configuration of the accelerator, which not only makes the multifunctional application of the accelerator feasible, but also reduces the complexity and cost of accelerator construction.

[0032] The scheme in this embodiment has two main uses. First, for large linear accelerators with a large energy span, an acceleration cavity with high energy acceptance can be selected, and the accelerator can be configured with a modular low-temperature module as the basic unit. This method not only ensures the high-efficiency operation of the accelerator, but also significantly reduces the construction complexity of the accelerator. Second, by reconfiguring the low-temperature module with high energy acceptance, the existing accelerator device can be equipped with the function of accelerating different types of particles. This flexible configuration method not only improves the application flexibility of the accelerator, but also indirectly reduces the construction cost of the accelerator.

[0033] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention rather than to limit them. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, ordinary technicians in the relevant field should understand that the specific implementation of the present invention can still be modified or replaced by equivalents, and any modification or equivalent replacement that does not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the claims of the present invention. The above content is only a specific implementation of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A configurable particle accelerator device, characterized in that: include: Ion source, radio frequency four-stage accelerator, superconducting acceleration module and high energy transmission module; The ion source is used to generate different types of particle beams; The radio frequency four-stage accelerator is used to pre-focus and pre-accelerate different types of particle beams; The superconducting acceleration module includes a plurality of different types of acceleration units, each of which includes a focusing magnet and a radio frequency cavity connected to the focusing magnet. The superconducting acceleration module can accelerate different types of pre-focused and pre-accelerated particle beams by combining and splicing different types of acceleration units. The high energy transmission module is used to match and transmit the beam passing through the superconducting acceleration module to the beam terminal.

2. The configurable particle accelerator device according to claim 1, characterized in that The radio frequency cavity comprises an accelerating cavity, a coupler and a tuner. The coupler is connected to the accelerating cavity and is used for power coupling of particles in the accelerating cavity. The tuner is connected to the accelerating cavity and is used for adjusting the frequency of the accelerating cavity.

3. The configurable particle accelerator device according to claim 2, characterized in that The focusing magnet and the accelerating cavity in the accelerating unit are connected in series through a vacuum pipe. There are one or more focusing magnets. The layout of the focusing magnet and the accelerating cavity of different types of accelerating units is different. Each accelerating unit is connected through a vacuum pipe. According to the different accelerated particles, the accelerating unit can be flexibly configured with a low-temperature thermostat as a unit.

4. The configurable particle accelerator device according to claim 3, characterized in that The acceleration gradient of the accelerating cavity is greater than 5 MV / m.

5. The configurable particle accelerator device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that ,,The different types of particle beams include continuous wave particle beams or pulse wave particle beams.

6. The configurable particle accelerator device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The extraction high voltage of the ion source is 20 kV to 100 kV.

7. The configurable particle accelerator device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The particle accelerator device also includes a low-energy transmission module, which includes a plurality of solenoids and secondary magnets. The solenoids are connected to the accelerator entrance and are used to match the beam generated by the ion source to the accelerator entrance. The secondary magnets are used to select the beam, optimize the edge angle, and realize symmetrical transmission of the beam.

8. The configurable particle accelerator device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The particle accelerator device also includes a medium energy transmission module, which includes a quadrupole magnet and a bunching cavity. The quadrupole magnet and the bunching cavity are connected in series through a vacuum pipe to meet the matching of the beam from the radio frequency quadrupole accelerator to the lower acceleration section.

9. The configurable particle accelerator device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The beam energy at the outlet of the radio frequency four-stage accelerator is 500keV-5MeV.

10. The configurable particle accelerator device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The high energy transmission module comprises a quadrupole magnet, a dipole magnet and a functional magnet, which are connected in series through a vacuum pipe; the quadrupole magnet and the dipole magnet are used to transmit the beam matching to the beam terminal, and the functional magnet is used to obtain beam parameters that meet the terminal requirements.

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