Cyclotron Designs for Ion Beam Therapy with Cyclinacs

This thesis presents new superconducting compact (as opposed to separated-sector ) cyclotron designs for injection in CABOTO, a linac developed by the TERA Foundation delivering C6+/H2+ beams up to 400 MeV/u for ion beam therapy. This association of a variable energy linac injected by a fixed energy cyclotron is called cyclinac. Two superconducting cyclotron designs are compared under the same design constraints and methods: a synchrocyclotron and an isochronous cyclotron, both at the highest possible magnetic field and with an output energy of 230 MeV/u. This energy allows to use the cyclotron as a stand-alone accelerator for protontherapy. Once the optimal cyclotron is determined, lower energy cyclotrons can easily be designed. The short pulse length (1.5 µs), fast repetition rate (100-300 Hz) and small beam transmission of the cyclinac (0.2%) require intense pulsed ion sources. To deliver the desired clinical dose rate, the average pulse current of 60 eµA of C6+ at 300 Hz can be produced by three commercial EBIS (EBIS-SC by Dreebit Gmbh) operating at 100 Hz and connected to the beamline in alternating mode. A multicusp ion source is sufficient to produce compatible H2+ beams. The synchrocyclotron design features a central magnetic field of 5 T, an axisymmetric pole and a constant field index of 0.02. The beam is injected axially with a spiral inflector (K = 1.4). A static magnetic perturbation of 0.1 T and 5° width boosts the beam radial gain per turn (with no emittance degradation) by exciting the first radial integer resonance and thus allows beam ejection with moderate beam losses (30%). The RF system operates in first harmonic (Q = 2500). The 180° Dee provides 28 kV peak voltage and the RF is modulated (30-38 MHz) by a rotating capacitor (90-900 pF). The synchrocyclotron's best features are the simple and compact magnet (300 tons) and the low RF power requirements (30 kW power supply). The isochronous cyclotron design features a 3.2 T central magnetic field, four sectors and a pole characterized by elliptical gaps in the hills (3-30 mm) and in the valleys (11-50 cm). Spiraling is minimized (80° total hill axis rotation) and beam ejection is achieved with a single electrostatic deflector placed inside an empty valley. The two RF cavities operate in fourth harmonic at 98 MHz (Q = 7100). The RF system provides peak voltages of 70-120 kV and is powered by a single 100 kW unit. The synchrocyclotron reliability is brought into question by the need of a rotating capacitor and by the complexity of the injection and ejection systems. However, the isochronous cyclotron requires a much more complex magnet. Overall, the isochronous cyclotron is a better solution compared to the synchrocyclotron, because it is as compact but more reliable. To quantitatively determine the industrial and clinical optimum for the CABOTO injection energy, three complementary isochronous cyclotrons of 70, 120 and 170 MeV/u are studied, based on the 230 MeV/u design. The opt