An accelerating cavity includes an electrically conductive cylindrical housing and a plurality of cells that are made of a dielectric material and have openings in respective central portions of the cells through which charged particles are allowed to pass. The cells are arranged inside the housing while being aligned in the axial direction of the central axis of the housing, and sandwiched by the housing in the axial direction of the central axis to be immobilized. The housing has grooves provided on portions thereof that support the respective cells and each having a depth that is one fourth of the wavelength of radio frequency waves for the acceleration mode that propagate through the cells.

A high gradient linear accelerating structure can propagate high frequency waves at a negative harmonic to accelerate low-energy ions. The linear accelerating structure can provide a gradient of 50 MV/m for particles at a β of between 0.3 and 0.4. The high gradient structure can be a part of a linear accelerator configured to provide an energy range from an ion source to 450 MeV/u for .sup.12C.sup.6+ and 250 MeV for protons. The linear accelerator can include one or more of the following sections: a radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator operating at the sub-harmonic of the S-band frequency, a high gradient structure for the energy range from ˜45 MeV/u to ˜450 MeV/u.

One or more example embodiments of the present invention relates to a radiofrequency source for a linear accelerator system, to the linear accelerator system, to a method for operating a radiofrequency source, and to an associated computer program product.

One or more example embodiments of the present invention relates to a radiofrequency source for a linear accelerator system, to the linear accelerator system, to a method for operating a radiofrequency source, and to an associated computer program product.

An electromagnetic accelerator system may include a barrel defining a bore through which an acceleration path extends. An electromagnetic coil may be positioned around the barrel such that the acceleration path extends through a core of the electromagnetic coil. A first electrical contact may be positioned along the acceleration path approximately within the core of the electromagnetic coil and electrically coupled to the electromagnetic coil. A second electrical contact may position along the acceleration path approximately within the core of the electromagnetic coil and spaced apart from the first electrical contact. The second electrical contact may be electrically coupleable to the first electrical contact to complete a circuit when a projectile to be accelerated is positioned therebetween.

A particle accelerator comprises a waveguide configured to accelerate a beam of electrons along an acceleration path. A diversion channel is configured to convey a beam of electrons along a diversion path. A first magnet arrangement is configured to, at a first location, direct electrons from the acceleration path to the diversion path. A second magnet arrangement is configured to, at a second location, direct electrons from the diversion path to the acceleration path.

A particle accelerator comprises a waveguide configured to accelerate a beam of electrons along an acceleration path. A diversion channel is configured to convey a beam of electrons along a diversion path. A first magnet arrangement is configured to, at a first location, direct electrons from the acceleration path to the diversion path. A second magnet arrangement is configured to, at a second location, direct electrons from the diversion path to the acceleration path.

A method includes receiving, from a volumetric imager, a first image including a target of a patient. The method further includes receiving a second image including the target of the patient. The method further includes tracking, by a processing device, a position of the target using the first image and the second image by maintaining a fixed alignment between a treatment beam of a linear accelerator (LINAC) and a source and detector pair of the volumetric imager during operation of the LINAC.

A method and apparatus for processing a particle shower using a laser-driven plasma is provided. The method comprises interacting a particle shower with a processing laser-driven plasma stage, the particle shower comprising at least one particle species, wherein the laser is a high-energy, ultra-short pulse laser. In some embodiments, the method comprises accelerating, decelerating, trapping, or collimating the at least one particle species in the processing laser-drive plasma stage. Particularly, the embodiments enable generating high energy particle beams that were only possible using accelerators spanning several hundred meters, in a space of a few meters.

Disclosed is an apparatus for extracting multiple laser Compton scattering (“LCS”) photon beams using a laser Compton scattering reaction, the apparatus including: a linear accelerator for accelerating an electron beam; and an LCS gamma ray generation module including an LCS gamma ray generator for irradiating a target with an LCS gamma ray generated by emitting laser light to an electron beam released from the linear accelerator and a bending magnet for adjusting a direction of the electron beam passed through the LCS gamma ray generator, wherein at least two LCS gamma ray generation modules are sequentially arranged to form a closed loop together with the linear accelerator.