Improvement of extraction efficiency from a compact synchrotron for proton beam therapy by applying particle tracking analysis

Various types of synchrotrons are used for particle beam therapy. In particle beam therapy, especially in proton beam therapy, downsizing of the accelerator system is a major concern. A compact synchrotron dedicated for proton beam therapy is presented. The synchrotron is horizontally weakly focusing and consists of 4 H-type zerogradient dipole magnets and 4 quadrupole magnets. The circumference of the ring is a little shorter than 18 m, and the energies are up to 230MeV. Beam extraction from the synchrotron is performed by RF-driven slow extraction technology. Two sextupole magnets set in adjacent straight sections form a horizontal separatrix which is fixed during the beam extraction. Horizontal RF voltage excites betatron oscillation of the circulating beam, and protons exceeding the separatrix are extracted by an electrostatic deflector and a horizontal septum dipole magnet. To achieve adequately high extraction efficiency, the relationship between the extraction efficiency and the horizontal chromaticity of the ring is analyzed by particle tracking simulation. The horizontal chromaticity with maximum extraction efficiency is half of the theoretical value because of the distortion of the horizontal separatrix for the extraction. With this chromaticity, the spiral-step of the extracted particle is independent of the momentum deviation of the particle,more » and the separatrix across the electrostatic septum electrodes is superpositioned.« less