A double multi-turn injection scheme for mixed ¹²C⁶⁺ and ⁴He²⁺ beams

Abstract

With a very low relative charge-to-mass ratio offset of approximately 0.065 %, helium (4He2+) and carbon ions (12C6+) are interesting candidates for being simultaneously accelerated in hadron therapy accelerators. At the same energy per nucleon, helium ions exhibit a stopping range approximately three times greater than that of carbon ions. They can therefore be exploited for online range verification in a detector downstream of the patient during carbon ion therapy. The synchrotron-based MedAustron Ion Therapy Center provides the opportunity to study the feasibility of such a mixed beam-based in-vivo range verification system due to the availability of 120-402.8 MeV/u carbon beams and the ongoing commissioning of 39.8-402.8 MeV/u helium beams. One possibility for creating this mixed beam is accelerating 4He2+ and 12C6+ sequentially through the LINAC and subsequently “mixing” the ion species at injection energy in the synchrotron with a double injection scheme. This contribution introduces this newly proposed injection scheme, outlines challenges and presents first feasibility estimates obtained through measurements and particle tracking simulations.