Particle Accelerators at Fermilab

Miguel Ahumada
Javier Aspuru
Javier Bautista
Ángel Zamora

Universida de Colima

27/May/2017

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Introduction

I What is a particle accelerator?

I Types of accelerators
I Cockcroft - Walton generator
I LINAC
I Cyclotron
I Synchrotron.
I Fermilab´s Accelerator Complex
I Fermilab’s Cockcroft-Walton Generator
I LINAC
I Main Ring
I Tevatron

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What is a particle accelerator?

Particle accelerators are devices that accelerate charged particles to

nearly ligth speed using electromagnetic fields.

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Why do we need accelerators?
I Medical applications.
I Industrial applications.
I Analysis of physical, chemical and biological samples.
I Research in basic subatomic physics.

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We need to send source particles toward target particles and then
detect the outcome, that’s how we see things.

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I “High energy” particles can have their energy converted into
mass, and so new particle states can be created and observed.
I In addition, accelerators provide the ability to control the
particles (steer, focus, increase/decrease intensity, for
instance) in order to conduct experiments efficiently and in a
controlled fashion.

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How do we accelerate particles?
I If started from rest, kinetic energy is gained:
1
∆E = mv 2
2
I All accelerators are based on the same principle. A charged
particle accelerates through a gap between two electrodes
when there is a potential difference among them:

Ek = qV

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The charge on an electron is:

q = −1.6x10−19 C

So, we say that an electron

accelerated through 1 volt gains
an amount of energy:

∆E = 1eV = 1.6x10−19 J

In this example, the electron

would gain energy of amount 9eV
.

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How fast is this electron moving?
I If started from rest:
1
∆E = mv 2
2
And so: p
v = 2∆E /m
I An electron in a typical TV set, with 10keV kinetic energy, it
would be moving at:
q
v = 2x10(1.6x10−19 J/(9x10−31 kg )) = 59.6x106 m/s

This is 20% the speed of light.

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Types of accelerators

Particle accelerators can be split into two fundamental types,

electrostatic accelerators and oscillating field accelerators.

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Electrostatic fields are simply electric fields that do not change with
time. The main disadvantage of using electrostatic fields is that
very large electric fields need to be generated to accelerate particles
to experimentally useful energies, which would be difficult and
dangerous to maintain. This disadvantage led to the development
of the second type of accelerator: the oscillating field accelerator.

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This type of accelerator requires electric fields that periodically
change with time. Clever use of this oscillating electric field has
allowed high energy physicists to accelerate particles to extremely
high energies.

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Cockcroft-Walton generator

The Cockcroft-Walton accelerator generated a high voltage by

creating a complex electrical circuit called a voltage multiplier
cascade, which became known as Cockcroft-Walton generator.
Using their generator, Cockcroft & Walton were able to generate a
voltage of 800kV (800,000V).

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This voltage then accelerated protons along an 8 foot vacuum
tube, where they then collided with a Lithium target achieving the
first artificial nuclear disintegration in history.

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Cockcroft-Walton generators are still used in particle accelerators
today for the initial acceleration of particles before they go on to
larger accelerators.

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To understand the circuit operation, lets see the diagram of a the
two-stage version. Assume the circuit is powered by an alternating
voltage Vi with a peak value of Vp. After the input voltage is
turned on:

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I When −Vp, current flows
through diode D1 to charge
capacitor C1 to a voltage of
Vp.
I When Vi reverses polarity
and reaches its positive peak
+Vp, it adds to the
capacitor’s voltage to
produce a voltage of 2Vp on
C1s right-hand plate. Since
D1 is reverse-biased, current
flows from C1 through diode
D2, charging capacitor C2
to a voltage of 2Vp.

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I When Vi reverses polarity
again, current from C2 flows
through diode D3, charging
capacitor C3 also to a
voltage of 2Vp.
I When Vi reverses polarity
again, current from C3 flows
through diode D4, charging
capacitor C4 also to a
voltage of 2Vp.

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I The key to the voltage
multiplication is that while
the capacitors are charged in
parallel, they are connected
to the load in series. Since
C2 and C4 are in series
between the output and
ground, the total output
voltage (under no-load
conditions) is Vo = 4Vp.
I This circuit can be extended
to any number of stages:

V0 = 2NVp

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LINAC

I The LINAC accelerates particles with ”kicks” using an RF

source to do this repeatedly.

I Inside the tubes

E~ = 0
but alternates between the gaps.

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I The length of the tubes must be:
1
L = vτ
2
I One problem that we have to deal with is to focusing the
beam, to do that is necessary to use magnetic fields:

F~ = q(E~ + ~v × B)
~

I Inside the gaps this equation becomes:

mv 2 mv
qvB = ⇒r =
r qB
I With a simple magnet we can only focus the beam in one
direction, so is better to use quadrupole magnets.

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I The quadrupole magnet focuses in one plane and defocuses in
the orthogonal plane.

I The focus is reached rotating many quadrupole magnets by

90° and putting them in line along the drift tubes.

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Cyclotron

The magnetic force on a charged particle:

F~B = q~v x B
~ → FB = qvB

For a circular path due the magnetic force:

X
F = mar

mv 2
FB = qvB =
r
qBr
v=
m

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Kinds of particle accelerators
Cyclotron: Nonrelativistic Frequency

The angular speed of the particle:

v qB
ω= =
r m
We know that the frequency:
ω
f =
2π
Therefore, the cyclotron frequency

qB
f =
2πm
Cyclotron Frequency is independent from velocity as well as radius
of the path followed by the particle.

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Synchrotron

The Synchrotron is a particle

accelerator in which the
accelerating particle beam travels
around a fixed closed-loop path.

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For a particle injected into a ring of radius R at speed v , the time
for one full turn is

2πR
T =
v
Since p = mv γ and E = mc 2 γ, then the period

2πRE
T =
pc 2
Hence the circular frequency is

2π pc 2
ω= =
T RE
~
dp
Using the fact that F~ = dt and the force due the magnetic field
on the charged particle

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 d p~ ~
= qγ~v x B
dt
where the magnetic field is orthogonal to the direction of motion.
As we are considering circular motion ~v = v θ̂, so, we have
~ = −vB rˆ. Also we have
~v x B

d p~ dp d θ̂ dp v
= θ̂ + p = θ̂ − p rˆ
dt dt dt dt R
where p = |~
p |. Then
v
−p rˆ = −qγvB rˆ
R
Therefore
p
B=
qRγ

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Why don’t we accelerate electrons?

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Synchrotron Radiation
All charged particles radiate energy as they accelerate.

For circular accelerators like the synchrotron the radiative energy

loss per revolution is

4π q 2 3 4
δE ≈ β γ
3 ρ
v
where ρ is the radius, β = c and γ = √ 1 . As E = mc 2 γ then
1−β 2
4
4π q 2

E
δE ≈ as v → c
3 ρ mc 2
Hence the energy loss varies inversely with the fourth power of the
mass.This makes electron synchrotrons a source of short
wavelength light, called synchrotron radiation.

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Fermilab´s Accelerator Complex

I Negative Ion Source

I Fermilab’s Cockcroft-Walton generator
I Fermilab’s Linac
I Booster
I Main Ring
I Antiproton source
I Tevatron

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Negative Ion Source

I The proton beam needed begins as a pulsed 18 keV and 50

mA negative hydrogen ion beam from a magnetron, similar to
that shown in the figure below.

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I The electric field between the anode and the cathode ionizes
the gas and the electrons move in spiral as the result of the
electric and magnetic field.

H2 → H + H =⇒ H → H + + e −

I H + from the plasma strike the cathode and sputter off H

atoms absorbed in the cathode, some of the H + reflect from
the cathode after acquiring 2e −

H + + 2e − → H −

I H atoms leaving the surface have a small chance of removing

e − , the Cs vapor lowers the work function of the cathode
surface increasing the chance to obtains H −
I Some H − are extracted to the anode aperture and accelerated
through the extraction plate.

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Fermilab’s Cockcroft-Walton Generator

I The Cockcroft-Walton generator at Fermilab has five stages

which result in a factor of ten increase in the maximum input
voltage provided by two transformers with 75 kV on the
secondaries.
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Fermilab’s Linac

I The Linac is a two-stage linear accelerator that produces a

pulsed beam of 400 MeV of H − ions for injection into the
Booster.
I The first stage is an Alvarez’s drift tube accelerator which
accelerates the ions to 116 MeV, this accelerator is 79 m long
and consists of five electrically resonant cylindrical OFHC
copper clad steel tanks.
I Each RF tank resonates al 201.24 MHz. the interior of each
tank consists of a line of n full drift tubes (23 ≤ n ≤ 59) and
an additional half drift tube at either end of each tank, there
are n + l resonant cells within the tank extending
longitudinally between two imaginary walls at the center of
two adjacent drift tubes.

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I If we want an effective acceleration the ions should experience
an accelerating field when they’re between the gaps.

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Booster

I The Booster is a 8 GeV fast cycling synchrotron which serves

as an injector to the Main Ring. It accelerates 400 MeV
protons obtained from the Linac at a rate of 15 Hz, its
diameter is about 151 m.
I An RF debuncher is placed at the end of the Linac to
minimize the momentum spread of the beam, in other words,
the RF cavity is phased with the incoming bunches such that
it decelerates fast particles and accelerates slower particles.
I During the injection into the Booster there is no net
acceleration on the H − ions, injection could then proceed by
firing protons into the Booster for a single ”turn” while the
protons coast in the ring.

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I The merged H − beam is placed in parallel with the proton
beam and then passes through a carbon foil which strips
electrons from them. After that both beams are placed
together to accelerate the protons in the Booster.
I The beam is then accelerated to its final energy of 8 GeV by
varying the RF frequency from 37.9 MHz at injection to
52.813 MHz at extraction.
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Main Ring
I The Main Ring is a 400 GeV proton synchrotron with a radius
of 1 km.It serves as a 150 GeV injector of protons and
antiprotons for the Tevatron as well as a source of 120 GeV
protons used in antiproton creation.

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Antiproton Source

I Antiproton Target.
I Debuncher.
I Accumulator.

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Antiproton Source
Antiproton Target
I Batches of 120 GeV protons (8x1012 per batch) are extracted
from the Main Ring and directed onto a nickel target disk
every 2.2 sec.
I About l07 antiprotons are produced for every 1012
protons striking the target.

I A cylindrical lithium lens (15 cm long x 1 cm radius) is placed

immediately after the target and acts to focus the secondary
particles along paths parallel to the axis of the cylinder
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Antiproton Source
The Debuncher and the Accumulator

I The purpose of the

Debuncher is to
accept pulses of
antiprotons and to
reduce their
momentum.
I The purpose of the
Accumulator is, as its
name suggest, is to
accumulate
antiprotons.

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Tevatron
I The Tevatron was the second most powerful particle
accelerator in the world before it shut down on Sept. 29, 2011

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Tevatron
CDF and Dzero Detectors

I CDF and DZero are two detectors positioned on opposite

sides of the Tevatron, they used different technologies to
capture and analyze similar information about the particles
that proton-antiproton collisions produce.

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Historical Results

I The first proton-antiproton

collisions produced by the
Tevatron was on Oct. 13,
1985.
I On March 2, 1995,
physicists at CDF and
DZero announced the
discovery of the top quark.

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Bibliography

I Mann Robert. (2010). An Introduction to Particle Physics

and the Standar Model. United States: CRC Press.
I D.A. Edwards, M.J. Syphers. (2004). An Introduction to the
Physics of High Energy Accelerators. Germany: Wiley-VCH.
I Valery Lebedev, Vladimir Shiltsev. (2014). Accelerator
Physics at the Tevatron Collider. United States: Springer.

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