Proton Model of a Heavy-Ion RFQ Linac

The radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) structure has been accepted to be very well suited for the acceleration of light ions at high currents in the low energy range. In case of very heavy ions with low charge the structure is characterized by low r.f. frequencies in the 10 MHz range, and is therefore technically different. An RFQ accelerator at 13.5 MHz for the acceleration of U++ ions from 2.4 to 100 keV/amu has been designed. Problems like current transport capability, emittance growth, validity of calculations are presently studied using a 1:4 proton model.