Superconducting Magnets for Ultra Light and Magnetically Shielded, Compact Cyclotrons for Medical, Scientific, and Security Applications

by Dr Joseph V. Minervini

Monday 20 Jan 2014, 16:00 → 17:00 Europe/Zurich

Compact superconducting cyclotrons are being considered for use in medical applications such as ion beam radiotherapy and PET isotope production, medium energy nuclear particle accelerators for scientific research, and in portable devices for security applications. The use of superconductors can lower the size and weight of the cyclotron because magnetic fields much higher than the saturation field of iron can be achieved at very high current density, and low power consumption when compared with copper, water-cooled, resistive coils. In this work we show that the superconducting magnetic field coils can be used as the primary method for producing the field shaping needed to generate the field profile required in a cyclotron, avoiding or minimizing the ferromagnetic pole pieces typically used in these machines. Coil number, location, and current are adjusted to produce the required field for either synchrocyclotrons or isochronous machines. In addition, magnetic field coils are used to magnetically shield the device, similarly eliminating the need for a ferromagnetic return yoke or ferromagnetic shields. Results are presented that demonstrate the significant weight advantage and high performance that can be achieved when the iron yoke is eliminated or reduced to a small amount of iron poles for local field shaping. Magnetic shielding of the stray field can even offer improvement over the use of iron shields. Contact A. Adelmann 4233

Abstract Flyer_GFA_XFEl_Accelerator_-_Minervini.pdf