RADIABEAM TECHNOLOGIES, LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 23j

Description

The Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) is the only national user facility for low-energy stable heavy ion beams. There are plans to convert ATLAS into a multi-user facility to simultaneously accelerate both stable and radioactive beams. This update requires a switching device for the separation of ~8-­‐25 MeV/u heavy ion beams, which requires a significant amountof power to be delivered into this device within a fraction of millisecond. In response to this problem, RadiaBeam Technologies proposes to design and build a 50-cm long pulsed switching magnet capable of producing a 1-T peak field with short (<1 ms) rise and fall time, ~1-­‐2% duty factor and 30-Hz repetition rate. Radiabeam Technologies will design solid-state switched resonant modulator to address capable of delivering at least 1000A of current to the magnet coils with the required pulse parameters.In Phase I, Radiabeam Technologies will design the pulsed magnet and build a short mock dipole to verify the effectiveness of a laminated magnet assembly technique. Radiabeam Technologies will also do a preliminary design of the power system aiming to mitigate the risks associated with this subsystem and to prepare for prototype fabrication in Phase II. This project is a critical component of a program to increase the availability of stable and radioactive ion beams to the research, defense and industrial users. Successful implementation of the proposed pulsed magnet technology will lead to a wide spectrum of applications, from customs and border protection to radiotherapy. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The goal of this project is to build an instrument that will be immediately used by Argonne National Laboratory in their work on increasing the available beam time of the ATLAS facility. Once a prototype magnet and a pulsed power switch are demonstrated, the system can be marketed as a useful and important instrument for a wide spectrum of applications, which include use in FRIB, multiplexing between multiple beamlines at future light source facilities, ultrafast scanning horns for industrial accelerators, and distribution of medical proton or ion beams where one accelerator feeds multiple therapy rooms.