Design and Construction of a Pulse Line Ion Accelerator for Biomedical Applications

A pulse line ion accelerator (PLIA) has been developed at the Anschutz Medical Campus for biomedical science applications. Time domain electromagnetic field and particle-in -cell simulations were used to optimize the accelerator structure. Simulation results indicate PLIA is capable of supporting a travelling electric field wave with speeds up to 107 m/s and gradients in excess of 2 MV/m when driven by a 400 MW, 50 ns (half-period) pulse generator. Based on these simulations, a 1.6 m prototype accelerator structure has been built. Testing of the structure using a 33 MW pulse generator (25 kV, 100 ns) has commenced and capacitive measurement of the travelling electric field wave indicates good agreement with simulation results. Trade-offs in the PLIA and pulser design as well as the feasibility of using a fast PLIA structure for N -13 production will be discussed.