Higher harmonic cavities (HHCs), also known as Landau cavities, have been proposed to increase the beam lifetime and Landau damping by lengthening the bunch and increasing the synchrotron tune spread. Here, we present an optimized 1.5 GHz normal conducting HHC design for the Advanced Light Source Upgrade project at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab with a superconducting-like geometry for lower R/Q. The optimization goal is to reach the required shunt impedance while maintaining a relatively high Q value of the cavities. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA)-based optimization process is applied to optimize the radio frequency (RF) design. This study serves as an example of how a genetic algorithm can be used to optimize RF cavities. Detailed exploration and characterization of the MOGA-based RF cavity optimization have been demonstrated from the aspects of minimizing the coupled bunch instabilities and analyzing the higher-order modes and the corresponding impedance of the HHC.

Here, we introduce and analyze a novel concept of using one single cavity to support dual modes instead of using separate cavities. One advantage of using a dual-mode cavity is that only one cavity needs to be manufactured, which is space-saving and obviously economic. Apart from this, by operating both the fundamental mode and the certain harmonic mode simultaneously in one single cavity, bunch lengthening during the acceleration process could be linearly achieved, providing great potential in improving the beam brightness in linacs, storage rings, and other accelerating structures. Through the detailed design study, a structure combining the fundamental and the chosen second harmonic modes is characterized. The RF performance of the designed bimodal cavity is deeply analyzed, and it could be put into actual use for different goals to improve either the beam dynamic characteristics or the compactness of the certain system.

A high-yield neutron source to screen sea-land cargo containers for shielded special nuclear materials (SNM) has been designed at LBNL. The Accelerator-Driven Neutron Source (ADNS) uses the D(d,n)3He reaction to create a forward directed neutron beam. Key components are a high-current radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator and a high-power target capable of producing a neutron flux of >107 n/(cm2.s) at a distance of 2.5 m. The mechanical design and analysis of the four-module, bolt-together RFQ will be presented here. Operating at 200 MHz, the 5.1 m long RFQ will accelerate a 40 mA deuteron beam to 6 MeV. At a 5% duty factor, the time-average d+ beam current on target is 1.5 mA. Each of the 1.27 m long RFQ modules will consist of four solid OFHC copper vanes. A specially designed 3-D O-ring will provide vacuum sealing between both the vanes and the modules. RF connections are made with canted coil spring contacts. A series of 60 water-cooled pi-mode rods provides quadrupole mode stabilization. A set of 80 evenly spaced fixed slug tuners is used for final frequency adjustment and local field perturbation correction.

A finite element analysis has been carried out to characterize the RF, thermal and structural behavior of the prototype 201.25 MHz cavity for a muon ionization cooling channel. A single ANSYS [1] model has been developed to perform all of the calculations in a multi-step process. The high-gradient closed-cell cavity is currently being fabricated [2] for the MICE (international Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment) and MUCOOL experiments. The 1200 mm diameter cavity is constructed of 6 mm thick copper sheet and incorporates a rounded pillbox-like profile with an open beam iris terminated by 420 mm diameter, 0.38 mm thick curved beryllium foils. Tuning is accomplished through elastic deformation of the cavity, and cooling is provided by external water passages. Details of the analysis methodology will be presented including a description of the ANSYS macro that computes the heat loads from the RF solution and applies them directly to the thermal model. The process and results of a calculation to determine the resulting frequency shift due to thermal and structural distortion of the cavity will also be presented.