Radio-Frequency Quadrupole Vane-Tip Geometries

Radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linacs are becoming widely accepted in the accelerator community. They have the remarkable capability of simultaneously bunching low-energy ion beams and accelerating them to energies at which conventional accelerators can be used, accomplishing this with high-transmission efficiencies and low-emittance growths. The electric fields, used for radial focusing, bunching, and accelerating, are determined by the geometry of the vane tips. The choice of the best vane-tip geometry depends on considerations such as the peak surface electric field, per cent of higher multipole components, and ease of machining. We review the vane-tip geometry based on the "ideal" two-term potential function and briefly describe a method for calculating the electric field components in an RFQ cell with arbitrary vane-tip geometry. We describe five basic geometries and use the prototype RFQ design for the Fusion Materials Irradiation Test (FMIT) accelerator as an example to compare the characteristics of the various geometries.