A CW 4-ROD RFQ LINAC

A cw 4-rod RFQ linac system has been designed, constructed, and tested as an accelerator section of a MeV-class ion implanter system. The tank diameter is only 60 cm for 34 MHz operating frequency. An equally spaced arrangement of the RFQ electrode supporting plates is proved to be suitable for a low resonant frequency 4-rod RFQ structure. The RFQ electrode cross section is not circular but rectangular to make the handling and maintenance of the electrodes easier. The machining of the electrode is done three dimensionally. Second order corrections in the analyzing magnet of the LEBT (Low Energy Beam Transport) section assure a better transmission through and the matching to the RFQ. A new approach is introduced to measure the rf characteristics of the 4-rod RFQ. This method requires only a few capacitors and a network analyzer. Both the rf and thermal stability of the 4-rod RFQ are tested up to cw 50 kW. Beam experiments with several ions confirm the acceleration of beams to the goal energy of 83 keV/u. The ion beam intensities obtained at the RFQ output for He+, N2+, and C+ are 32, 13, and 220 pmuA, respectively. The measured beam transmissions of > 80% agree with the PARMTEQ calculations. The ion implantation method also gives definitive information on the energies of an RFQ output beam.