The ever-expanding requirements of high-power targets and accelerator equipment has highlighted the need for facilities capable of accommodating experiments with a diverse range of objectives. ...HiRadMat, a High Radiation to Materials testing facility at CERN has, throughout operation, established itself as a global user facility capable of going beyond its initial design goals. Pulsed high energy, high intensity, proton beams have been delivered to experiments ranging from materials testing, detector's prototype validation, radiation to electronics assessment and beam instrumentation. A 440 GeV/c proton beam is provided directly from the CERN SPS. Up to 288 bunches/pulse at a maximum pulse intensity of 3.5 × 1013 protons/pulse can be delivered. Through collaborative efforts, HiRadMat has developed into a state-of-the-art facility with improved in situ measurement routines, beam diagnostic systems and data acquisition techniques, offered to all users. This contribution summarises the recent experimental achievements, highlights previous facility enhancements and discusses potential future upgrades with particular focus on HiRadMat as a facility open to novel experiments.
We investigated the online radiation-induced attenuation of two single-mode optical fibers (OFs) that were X-rays irradiated with doses up to 100 kGy(SiO 2 ) at room temperature at 10.7 Gy/s. One of ...the two samples was doped only with phosphorous, whereas the other was codoped with phosphorous and cerium. Both OF types are very radiation sensitive in the near-infrared (NIR) domain and of interest for applications involving radiation detection. The addition of Ce to the P-doped core lowers the radiation sensitivity of the OF and introduces a spontaneous postirradiation recovery process at room temperature, which is negligible in the purely P-doped OF. We show that the diffusion of molecular hydrogen into the OFs allows the full recovery of the NIR losses caused by radiation-induced P-related point defects. However, the radiation response of the H 2 -regenarated samples is substantially different from that of the pristine ones. We conclude that the H 2 -loading procedure cannot be at the moment considered as a valid technique for the regeneration of a depleted P-doped OF radiation sensor.
We investigated the potential of a multimode (50-μm core diameter) nitrogen doped silica-based optical fiber for X-rays, protons, and y-rays radiation detection and dosimetry. X-rays results confirm ...that this N-doped fiber presents a strong radioluminescence (RL) around 550 nm when exposed to radiation. The RL observed from a few centimeter long samples linearly depend on the dose rate at least in the 1-mGy/s-50-Gy/s range. Low dose rate y-ray t ests demonstrate the radiation detection at dose rate as low as 40 μGy/s with a 2-m-long fiber sample. This fiber is also associated with an optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) when exposed to a 1064-nm laser light postirradiation. This OSL signature provides shortly after the irradiation a precise estimation of the accumulated dose at least in the 1-Gy-10-kGy range. Under proton exposure, we benchmarked the performances of the N-doped fiber with the ones of a conventional Markus chamber used by the TRIUMF proton-therapy team. This comparison highlights the potential of the small-size N-doped fiber to partially overcome the known limitations of commercial fiber-based dosimeters for medical applications. The obtained results are very promising for the future design of more complex spatially resolved beam monitoring systems.
An experimental scheme is presented for generating low-divergence, ultradense, relativistic, electron-positron beams using 400 GeV/c protons available at facilities such as HiRadMat and AWAKE at ...CERN. Preliminary Monte Carlo and particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate the possibility of generating beams containing 10(13)-10(14) electron-positron pairs at sufficiently high densities to drive collisionless beam-plasma instabilities, which are expected to play an important role in magnetic field generation and the related radiation signatures of relativistic astrophysical phenomena. The pair beams are quasineutral, with size exceeding several skin depths in all dimensions, allowing the examination of the effect of competition between transverse and longitudinal instability modes on the growth of magnetic fields. Furthermore, the presented scheme allows for the possibility of controlling the relative density of hadrons to electron-positron pairs in the beam, making it possible to explore the parameter spaces for different astrophysical environments.
In order to obtain high precision cross-section measurements using the time-of-flight technique, it is important to know with good accuracy the neutron uence at the measuring station. The detector ...dedicated to these measurements should be placed upstream of the detectors used for capture and fission cross-section measurements. The main requirement is to reduce the material of the detector as much as possible, in order to minimize the perturbation of the neutron beam and, especially, the background produced by the device itself. According to these considerations, a new neutron detector equipped with a small-mass device based on MicroMegas "Micro-bulk" technology has been developed as a monitoring detector for the CERN n TOF neutron beam. A description of the different characteristics of this innovative concept of transparent detector for neutron beam monitoring is presented. The result obtained in the commissioning of the new spallation targetof the n TOF facility at CERN is shown, compared with simulations performed with the FLUKA code. KCI Citation Count: 16
This paper concerns the importance of the preparation of the targets that may be used for pulsed laser deposition of iron-doped indium oxide films. Targets with a fixed concentration of iron are ...fabricated from indium oxide and iron metal or one of the oxides of iron, FeO, Fe3O4 and Fe2O3. Films from each target were ablated onto sapphire substrates at the same temperature under different oxygen pressures such that the thickness of the films was kept approximately constant. The films were studied using X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption (both XANES and EXAFS), optical absorption and magnetic circular dichroism. The magnetic properties were measured with a SQUID magnetometer. At the lowest oxygen pressure, there was evidence that some of the iron ions in the films were in the state Fe2+, rather than Fe3+, and there was also a little metallic iron; these properties were accompanied by a substantial magnetisation. As the amount of the oxygen was increased, the number of defect phases and the saturation magnetisation was reduced and the band gap increased. In each case, we found that the amount of the oxygen that had been included in the target from the precursor added to the effect of adding oxygen in the deposition chamber. It was concluded that the amount of oxygen in the target due to the precursor was an important consideration but not a defining factor in the quality of the films.
An overview of the HIE-ISOLDE Design Study Catherall, R.; Augustin, M.; Babcock, C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms,
12/2013, Letnik:
317
Journal Article
Recenzirano
•Design Study within the HIE-ISOLDE project.•Issues associated with an increase in energy and intensity of primary proton beam.•Secondary ion beam quality improvements.
The On-Line Isotope Mass ...Separator ISOLDE 1 is a facility dedicated to the production of a large variety of radioactive ion beams (RIB) for a great number of different experiments. Over 1000 radioactive nuclides from 70 elements can be produced in thick high-temperature targets via spallation, fission or fragmentation reactions with the PS-Booster pulsed proton-beam. With the arrival of CERN’s new linear accelerator Linac 4 2,3, ISOLDE will have the possibility to exploit a factor of 3 increase in proton-beam intensity and a possible proton-beam energy increase from 1.4GeV to 2GeV 4.
After 20years of successful ISOLDE operation at the PS-Booster, a major upgrade of the facility, the HIE-ISOLDE (High Intensity and Energy ISOLDE) project was launched in 2010. It is divided into three parts; a staged upgrade of the REX post-accelerator to increase the beam energy from 3.3MeV/u to 10MeV/u using a super-conducting Linac, an evaluation of the critical issues associated with an increase in proton-beam intensity and a machine design for an improvement in RIB quality. The latter two will be addressed within the HIE-ISOLDE Design Study. This paper gives an overview of the Design Study and will outline the critical issues to be addressed concerning the intensity upgrade and will propose solutions and improvements to be implemented. It will also give an insight to the propositions being studied in order to improve secondary beam characteristics essential to accomplish a more demanding physics program.
The high intensity and energy ISOLDE (HIE-ISOLDE) project is an upgrade to the existing ISOLDE facility at CERN. The foreseen increase in the nominal intensity and the energy of the primary proton ...beam of the existing ISOLDE facility aims at increasing the intensity of the produced radioactive ion beams (RIBs). The currently existing ISOLDE facility uses the proton beam from the proton-synchrotron booster with an energy of 1.4 GeV and an intensity up to 2 μA. After upgrade (final stage), the HIE-ISOLDE facility is supposed to run at an energy up to 2 GeV and an intensity up to 4 μA. The foreseen upgrade imposes constrains, from the radiation protection and the radiation safety point of view, to the existing experimental and supply areas. Taking into account the upgraded energy and intensity of the primary proton beam, a new assessment of the radiation protection and radiation safety of the HIE-ISOLDE facility is necessary. Special attention must be devoted to the shielding assessment of the beam dumps and of the experimental areas. In this work the state-of-the-art Monte Carlo particle transport simulation program FLUKA was used to perform the computation of the ambient dose equivalent rate distribution and of the particle fluxes in the projected HIE-ISOLDE facility (taking into account the upgrade nominal primary proton beam energy and intensity) and the shielding assessment of the facility, with the aim of identifying in the existing facility (ISOLDE) the critical areas and locations where new or reinforced shielding may be necessary. The consequences of the upgraded proton beam parameters on the operational radiation protection of the facility were studied.
The ISOLDE facility at CERN is one of the first facilities in the world dedicated to the production of the radioactive ion beams (RIB) and during all its working time underwent several upgrades. The ...goal of the latest proposed upgrade, 'The High Intensity and Energy ISOLDE' (HIE-ISOLDE), is to provide a higher performance facility in order to approximate it to the level of the next generation ISOL facilities, like EURISOL. The HIE-ISOLDE aims to improve significantly the quality of the produced RIB and for this reason the increasing of the primary beam power is one of the main objectives of the project. An increase in the nominal beam current (from 2 to 6 μA proton beam intensity) and energy (from 1.4 GeV to 2 GeV) of the primary proton beam will be possible due to the upgrade of CERN's accelerator infrastructure. The current upgrade means reassessment of the radiation protection and the radiation safety of the facility. However, an evaluation of the existing shielding configuration and access restrictions to the experimental and supply areas must be carried out. Monte Carlo calculations were performed in order to evaluate the radiation protection of the facility as well as radiation shielding assessment and design. The FLUKA-Monte Carlo code was used in this study to calculate the ambient dose rate distribution and particle fluxes in the most important areas, such as the experimental hall of the facility. The results indicate a significant increase in the ambient dose equivalent rate in some areas of the experimental hall when an upgrade configuration of the primary proton beam is considered. Special attention is required for the shielding of the target area once it is the main and very intensive radiation source, especially under the upgrade conditions. In this study, the access points to the beam extraction and beam maintenance areas, such as the mass separator rooms and the high voltage room, are identified as the most sensitive for the experimental hall from the radiation protection point of view.
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