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Particle Accelerators and Beams Conference 2024
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Europe/London
Alan Letchford,
Andy Smith
(University of Manchester),
Christina Pateras
(Dalton Cumbria Facility),
Dan Turner
(CERN),
David Dunning,
David Kelliher
(STFC),
Glenn Christian
(Diamond Light Source),
Hayley Austin
(Dalton Cumbria Facility),
Hayley Cavanagh
(STFC - RAL - ISIS),
Kay Dewhurst
(CERN),
Malik Salaam,
Melissa Uchida
(University of Cambridge (GB)),
Stephen Gibson
(Royal Holloway, University of London),
Tessa Charles
Description
The IOP Particle Accelerators and Beams group invite the community to our two-day Annual Conference; the UK’s premier national event in the field of particle accelerators. The scientific programme will feature plenary and keynote talks, a panel discussion, parallel sessions and a poster session. The conference is intended to bring the entire community together for two days of vibrant physics discussion, knowledge sharing and networking. We encourage participants at all career stages from PhD, through postdoc to senior professors and industry partners to attend.
This year, we welcome you to the Dalton Cumbrian Facility and nearby Washington Central Hotel in Workington, Cumbria, for an in-person conference on June 11 and 12. The start time is 9:00 with talks beginning at 9.30, so we recommend arrival on 10 June with a stay at the conference hotel (discount rate available for delegates if booked by 1 May). The first day includes a joint session with the Sustainable HEP Workshop, the Group Prize Talk and the Poster Session with a Drinks Reception. We will end the first day with an evening Conference Dinner where the Group and Poster Prizes will be awarded. Participants can take the opportunity to tour the Dalton Cumbrian Facility on the second day (transport to and from the hotel provided). This promises to be a very special event and we hope that you will join us for this exciting UK conference!
We strongly encourage colleagues to submit an abstract for a poster or oral presentation.
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09:00
Registration
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1
Conference WelcomeSpeaker: Dr Melissa Uchida (University of Cambridge (GB))
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2
Welcome to the Dalton Cumbrian FacilitySpeaker: Andy Smith (University of Manchester)
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3
The UK Accelerator LandscapeSpeaker: Deepa Angal-Kalinin
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4
ISIS upgrade: 40 years of the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source
The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source celebrates its 40th year of operation in December 2024. At one time the world’s most powerful pulsed neutron source, ISIS still has a global impact producing neutrons and muons for condensed matter research, owing in-part to the wide range of instrumentation at its disposal across two target stations. This talk will cover the current status and planned upgrades at the ISIS facility, such as the MEBT upgrade to the ISIS injector; the overall landscape of neutron production facilities around the world, wherein the closure of reactor-based sources poses the risk of a “neutron drought”; and the progress of the ISIS II upgrade design effort, which encompasses both traditional driver designs such as the RCS, as well as a novel FFA option.
Speaker: Billy Kyle (ISIS, STFC, UKRI) -
10:40
Coffee 🍵
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5
The Venom Neutron Facility at AWESpeaker: Dr Nick Bazin (AWE)
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6
RUEDI: Relativistic Ultrafast Electron Diffraction & Imaging
The Relativistic Ultrafast Electron Diffraction and Imaging (RUEDI) facility has been recently approved by the UKRI Infrastructure Fund to be a new ultrafast science capability for the UK based at Daresbury Laboratory. It will deliver single-shot, time-resolved, imaging with MeV electrons, and ultrafast electron diffraction down to 10 fs timescales. RUEDI is being designed to enable the following science themes: dynamics of chemical change; materials in extreme conditions; quantum materials; energy generation, storage, and conversion; and in vivo biosciences. The evolution of the design of the facility will be outlined along with the remaining challenges to deliver a world leading capability.
Speaker: Tim Noakes (STFC Daresbury Laboratory) -
12:00
Lunch 🥗
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Sustainable HEP joint session: Sustainable accelerators
Joint session with Sustainable HEP 2024
https://indico.cern.ch/event/1355767/timetable/#20240611-
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Sustainability session: Welcome
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8
Overview on the sustainability of future acceleratorsSpeakers: Masakazu Yoshioka (K), Masakazu Yoshioka
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9
Sustainable Accelerator R&D in the UKSpeakers: Ben Shepherd, Mr Ben Shepherd
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7
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14:10
Coffee 🍵
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Parallel talks: Parallel session I - Sustainable accelerators (Main room)
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10
The psychology behind Sustainable Energy TransitionsSpeaker: Thijs Bouman
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11
Evaluating the environmental impact of the ISIS-II Neutron and Muon SourceSpeaker: Dr Hannah Wakeling (John Adams Institute, Oxford University)
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12
Reducing the RF power demands for future colliders
The largest power demands of most future colliders, particularly Higgs factories and muon colliders, is dominated by the wall-plug-power required to run the RF systems and its cooling. Most of this power does not end up in the beam but is power lost as heat in the RF amplifiers, cavities and RF loads. This power lost is not a fundamental limit and there has been recent progress in addressing each to increase the efficiency of the RF system (and its associated cryo-plants in the case of superconducting machines) by a factor of 2 to 10 depending on the machine. This talk will provide an overview of those recent advances covering high efficiency klystrons and SSPA, novel materials for superconducting RF and fast reactive tuners and discuss each in the context of future colliders.
Speaker: Prof. Graeme Burt (Cockcroft/Lancaster University) -
15:20
Health break
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13
A Carbon-Neutral, Emission-Free Particle Accelerator for Ion Beam AnalysisSpeaker: Dan Faircloth
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14
Thin film superconducting cavities for sustainable acceleratorsSpeaker: Daniel Seal
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10
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Parallel talks: Parallel session II (Second room)
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14:20
Coffee break (extended)
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15
Summary and Feedback from the National Particle Accelerator Open Day 2023Speaker: Haroon Rafique
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16
Phase Shifters in Free-Electron LasersSpeaker: Dr Alan Mak (Daresbury Laboratory)
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17
The UK XFEL conceptual design and options analysis projectSpeaker: David Dunning
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15:20
Health break
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18
Status of CLARA Test Facility at Daresbury Laboratory
CLARA (Compact Linear Accelerator for Research and Applications) test facility at Daresbury Laboratory has recently been upgraded with installation of Phase 2. The facility will provide 250 MeV, 250 pC high brightness electrons at 100 Hz when commissioned. We will present updates on completed installation, technical system commissioning, plans and timeline for RF conditioning, beam and laser commissioning. We will outline preparations and timeline to operate CLARA for users.
Speaker: Deepa Angal-Kalinin -
19
Beam dynamics of the RUEDI ultrafast electron diffraction beamlineSpeaker: Benjamin Hounsell
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14:20
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20
IOP PAB Group Prize talk:Speaker: Prof. Jim Clarke
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21
Discussion of the UK's present accelerator focus: input to the European Committee for Future Accelerators (EFCA)Speaker: Haroon Rafique
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Poster session and evening reception 🥂(1st floor)
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Conference dinner + Prizes 🥇(2nd floor)
Poster prize and Group prize winners announced
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09:00
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22
FLASH and VHEE studies at CLEAR facility at CERNSpeaker: Manjit Dosanjh (University of Oxford (GB))
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23
Proton Accelerators for FLASHSpeaker: Rebecca Taylor (CERN)
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10:25
Coffee 🍵
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24
Panel discussion: Current challenges in accelerator technologies and future sustainability
Chaired by Brian McNeil
Speaker: Brian McNeil -
12:05
Lunch
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Parallel talks: Parallel session I (Main room)
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25
CLARA Dielectric Dechirper Performance Studied by Simulations
Maximising the performance of free electron lasers relies on minimising the energy spread (chirp) within the electron bunch. Although several studies have proved the effectiveness of longitudinal wakefields induced in corrugated and dielectric structures in bunch dechirping, the impact of transverse wakefields on beam quality remains insufficiently explored. This study investigates the performance of a dielectric wakefield structure, designed for integration into the CLARA facility, through simulations. The dechirper includes two planar and orthogonally oriented dielectric waveguides with adjustable dielectric gaps. It is aimed to achieve optimal energy spread reduction while compensating transverse wakefields, so the beam quality is not compromised. Simulations conducted across varying parameters—bunch length, transverse size, bunch energy spread, and dielectric gap—offer insights into the longitudinal and transverse wakefield effects on beam dynamics within the dechirper.
Speaker: Beatriz Higuera Gonzalez -
26
High frequency solutions to electron beam position measurements in the AWAKE common beamline
In AWAKE, the Advanced WAKefield Experiment, relativistic proton bunches produced by the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) are used to drive high gradient plasma wakefields for the acceleration of short-pulse electron bunches to 2 GeV in a 10 m plasma cell. Precise control of the injected electrons is vital for operation of the seeding of the self modulation of the proton bunch, therefore the position of both beams must be monitored simultaneously. The monitoring of 2 diverse beam types necessitates an electron beam position monitor (BPM) working in a frequency regime of tens of GHz. A high frequency conical button-style BPM and a BPM utilising Cherenkov Diffraction Radiation (ChDR) have been developed and installed in the AWAKE common beamline. This work presents the results from extensive beam tests carried out in the last beam year to assess the suitability and performance of each device in a range of beam conditions.
Speaker: Bethany Spear (University of Oxford/ JAI) -
27
Witness injection via laser-solid interaction for plasma wakefield accelerators
We present a laser-assisted electron injection scheme for beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. The laser is colinear with the driver and triggers the injection of hot electrons into the plasma wake by interaction with a thin solid target. We explore the scheme through numerical simulations, using the AWAKE Run 2 parameters as a baseline. The final beam quality is better than similar proposed schemes, and several avenues for further study are indicated. The constraints on the AWAKE experiment are very specific, but the general principles of the mechanism can be applied to future beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerator experiments.
Speaker: Dr Thomas Wilson (University of Strathclyde) -
28
Electron beam jitter suppression and diagnostic using terahertz-induced modulation
Interaction between laser-generated terahertz (THz) radiation and high-energy electron beams has become a research topic of interest, owing to the higher field gradients available compared to conventional radio-frequency (RF) accelerators, and the utility of mm-scale wavelengths for sub-ps bunch manipulation and diagnostics. We have shown that multi-cycle THz energy modulation of relativistic electron bunches is an effective diagnostic for the longitudinal phase space (LPS), including slice-uncorrelated energy spread.
Using accurate reconstructions of the LPS from our experimental results, we have explored the ability for THz modulation to extract and isolate jitter contributions from various upstream beamline components, such as the RF phase and amplitude, and injection time into the RF linac. This technique relies on measuring the energy spectra of THz-modulated bunches, exploiting the unique effect that each source of jitter has on the spectrum. By finding the LPS solution which fits the beam energy measurements, an estimate for the value of each source of jitter can be found on a shot-by-shot basis.
To further this, we have investigated the jitter suppression that comes from propagating the modulated bunches through a compressing beamline such as a magnetic chicane. Using bunches with experimentally determined LPS, we find that compressed trains of ultra-short micro-bunches (and single bunches) with pC charge become temporally locked to the THz drive laser, reducing jitter in the bunch timing by up to an order of magnitude. With bunch compression and jitter suppression both scaling with THz field, these laser-locked, fs-duration bunches will open up new opportunities for future advanced accelerator technology, including ultrafast electron diffraction and pump-probe experiments, and controlled external injection into laser plasma wakefields.
Speaker: Joseph Bradbury (University of Manchester)
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25
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Parallel talks: Parallel session II (Second room)
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29
Crystal experiments and recent measurements at CERN
Bent silicon crystals have been integrated into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as part of the collimation system. More are planned to be installed this year for a fixed-target experiment. I present a summary of recent measurements with LHC crystals using CERN facilities, and introduce the future experiments TWOCRYST and ALADDIN.
Speaker: Dr Kay Dewhurst (CERN) -
30
Monte Carlo Techniques for Modelling X-Ray Detector Systems
3D imaging is a key diagnosis tool within medical contexts. This is particularly important in applications such as chest scans, where the symptoms of interest, such as pulmonary nodules, may be obscured by layers of tissue and other overlapping biological structures. The higher image resolution required to make the structures of interest identifiable in this context creates the demand for these higher-dimensional imaging modalities. 3D X-ray imaging is a popular format of this, with computed tomography (CT) being the most well-known modality. Digital tomosynthesis (DT) is a similar imaging method which is used less often clinically; due to the historical challenges of high use costs and equipment bulkiness. The development of a modern DT approach by Adaptix Ltd aims to reform this. Innovation of a cold-cathode flat-panel source has allowed the devices produced by Adaptix Ltd to be significantly more mobile and low-cost while delivering a lower patient dosage than CT. These changes make DT a clinically desirable 3D scanning option.
The work completed in this project aims to develop a simulation environment to model these DT devices. This is being completed within Geant4, a Monte-Carlo particle transport code which allows the statistical modelling of radiation. The current focus of this work investigates the optimal detector construction for this DT approach. Performing this investigation within the simulation framework allows a more cost- and time-efficient method of identifying useful metrics for quantifying detector quality for Adaptix Ltd’s DT method than would be possible experimentally. From this, the most favourable detector characteristics for this context will be concluded.
Speaker: Lauryn Eley (University Of Liverpool) -
31
CARP (Computational Assessment of Radionuclide Production): Development of a new tool for modelling medical radionuclide production by particle beam irradiation
At NNL we have a developed a new tool, the Computational Assessment of Radionuclide Production tool, or CARP for short, which models the evolution of a target material's nuclide inventory when irradiated by an incident particle beam. The intention of the tool is to allow quick assessments of radionuclide production, highlighting the yield of any nuclides of interest and the downfalls of the given production route.
CARP is a deterministic code which utilises NNL's FISPIN 11 nuclide inventory code as a calculation kernel and requires an energy dependent particle flux spectrum produced using a particle transport code such as MCNP or Serpent that has been used to model the incident beam. This data in convolved with a given cross-section dataset which translates the beam data into a set of cross-sections applicable to FISPIN's inventory evolution capability. Thus CARP utilises this beam information and produces a nuclide inventory at any number of user defined timesteps in both irradiation and cooling such that an experiment may be optimised. Furthermore CARP is capable of modelling multiple irradiations (including multiple particle types) and cooling steps for a single target in a single case.
For each inventory calculated the code also produces a set of associated parameters of interest including alpha, beta and gamma activities and energies, gamma spectra, and mass, mole and atom contents. The outputs are heat mapped and the time evolution of each parameter is plotted.
CARP is designed to be flexible, batch operable, and easy to use with a simple input system for straightforward usability, and produces a simple, human and computer readable and malleable output.
CARP is currently undergoing its first stage of verification and validation using reactor beam data from the EU SECURE programme, and we intend on repeating the process with accelerator beam data at the first opportunity.
Speaker: Duncan Mayhem (National Nuclear Laboratory) -
32
Ion-beam implantation to simulate radiation damage in novel metallic systems for nuclear fusion applications
Ballistic damage due to scattering plays a key role in the degradation of nuclear materials. Due to the challenge of low flux, material activation and irrelevant beam spectra, researchers into fusion materials often rely on simulating ballistic damage through ion implantation. In this work, heavy ion implantation has been carried out in HZDR using a Ti ion beam at 500 °C and a fluence of 1x10^17 ions/cm^2 to achieve 15 dpa, in order to simulate ballistic damage on a novel metal alloy, Ta30-V30-Ti30-W5-Fe5. This alloy has been designed to show improved radiation damage resistance due to the presence of a BCC matrix phase reenforced with secondary phase. SEM, APT, GI-XRD and nanoindentation have been used to characterise the materials’ radiation response and verify alloy design methods. The use of APT shows implantation -induced clustering at dislocation features, with GI-XRD showing structural stability even to high implantation levels. Nanoindentation work suggests that in the aged condition, the material resists irradiation hardening supporting the hypothesis that a secondary C15 Laves phase has potential to improve irradiation responses in BCC alloys.
Speakers: Sam Yeates (The University of Sheffield), Mr Sam Yeates (The University Of Sheffield)
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29
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14:05
Coffee 🍵
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33
DCF and Applications of Ion Beams
The Dalton Cumbrian Facility is wholly owned and operated by the University of Manchester and is a world leading centre for radiation science research. A major component of the Facility’s infrastructure is a suite of commercially sourced electrostatic ion accelerators, ion sources and beamlines.
Intense, energetic ion beams are used to simulate accelerated radiation damage effects experienced by a wide range of materials used in the nuclear power industry across the full fuel cycle and in both fission and fusion reactors. Of equal importance to the mechanical damage inflicted, intense radiation exposure is also responsible for alterations in a wide range of chemical processes throughout the industry.
Although DCF’s primary mission is in support of the UK’s civil nuclear power programme, radiation effects are also prominent in many other disciplines from space exploitation to biological effects and medical benefits. DCF’s interests are expanding into these fields to improve our broad understanding of how radiation interacts with matter and can induce changes.
This talk will give a broad overview of DCF’s ion beam facilities with some examples of experimental methods and radiation studies conducted using them.Speaker: Andy Smith (University of Manchester) -
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Conference Close
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Tours of the Dalton Cumbrian Facility
If you want to join a tour, please indicate this during registration or contact a committee member. Tours are limited to 40 people.
Tours will depart from The Washington Central Hotel by coach and return to the train station by 6pm.
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