Order-of-Magnitude Beam Current Improvement in Compact Cyclotrons

Understand

There is great need for high intensity proton beams from compact particle accelerators in particle physics, medical isotope production, and materials- and energy-research.

• To address this need, we present, for the first time, a design for a compact isochronous cyclotron that will be able to deliver 10 mA of 60 MeV protons - an order of magnitude higher than on-market compact cyclotrons and a factor four higher than research machines.
• A key breakthrough is that vortex motion is incorporated in the design of a cyclotron, leading to clean extraction.
• Beam losses on the septa of the electrostatic extraction channels stay below 50 W (a factor four below the required safety limit), while maintaining good beam quality.