A novel proton and light ion synchrotron for particle therapy

A compact synchrotron for a cancer Particle Therapy* system has been designed and is presently under construction. A lattice with six regular super-periods, consisting of two dipole and two quadrupole magnets each, is used. The optimized lattice configuration, including the design of the injection and extraction systems, provides large transverse phase space acceptance with minimum magnet apertures. The result is a synchrotron for PT with light magnets, low values of peak power for pulsed operation and minimum dc power consumption. In addition, industrial production principles are used, keeping ease of construction, installation, and operation in mind. The beam, injected at 7 MeV/amu, can be accelerated to the maximum magnetic rigidity of 6.6 Tm in less than 1 s. A beam of 50-250 MeV protons and 85-430 MeV/u carbon ions can be slowly extracted during up to 10s. The intensity for protons and carbon ions will be well beyond the needs of scanning beam applications. The design and performance specifications of the synchrotron will be described in detail.