Low energy beam transport line design for the Sarajevo ion accelerator

The University of Sarajevo Physics Department, in collaboration with CERN’s Accelerator Beam Physics group, proposes a compact linear accelerator design for applied physics research spanning from beam dynamics studies to material surface analysis. The Sarajevo Ion Accelerator (SARAI) consists of an electron cyclotron resonance ion source, a low energy beam transport line (LEBT) and a radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ). The ion source can produce an array of ions extracted with 30 kV. This study presents an iterative parameter optimization method that suggests two LEBT optics: one for beam diagnostics and another for compact beam matching to the RFQ acceptance. The RFQ discussed here is a 750 MHz, 2.5 MeV/u RFQ, used for medical applications. SARAI RFQ aims at 0.5 - 2 MeV/u. A novel RFQ technology allows a significant reduction in footprint. This paper further discusses plans for source commissioning and potential research applications.