Beam stripping interactions in compact cyclotrons

Abstract

Beam stripping losses of H− ion beams by interactions with residual gas and electromagnetic fields are evaluated. These processes play an important role in compact cyclotrons where the beam is produced on an internal ion source, and they operate under high-magnetic field. The implementation of stripping interactions into the beam dynamics code OPAL provides an adequate framework to estimate the stripping losses for compact cyclotrons such as advanced molecular imaging technologies. The analysis is focused on optimizing the high-energy beam current delivered to the target. The optimization is performed by adjusting parameters of the ion source to regulate the vacuum level inside the accelerator and minimize the beam stripping losses.