Low Level RF System of the LIGHT Proton Therapy Linac

• Main Authors: Guillen, Dario Soriano, De Michele, Giovanni, Benedetti, Stefano, Ivanisenko, Yevgeniy, Cerv, Matevz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 07-10-2022
• Subjects: Physics - Accelerator Physics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2210.03374

The LIGHT (Linac for Image-Guided Hadron Therapy) project was initiated to
develop a modular proton accelerator delivering beam with energies up to 230
MeV for cancer therapy. The machine consists of three different kinds of
accelerating structures: RFQ (Radio-Frequency Quadrupole), SCDTL (Side Coupled
Drift Tube Linac) and CCL (Coupled Cavity Linac). These accelerating structures
operate at 750 MHz (RFQ) and 3 GHz (SCDTL, CCL). The accelerator RF signals are
generated, distributed, and controlled by a Low-Level RF (LLRF) system. The
LIGHT LLRF system is based on a commercially available solution from
Instrumentation Technologies with project specific customization. This LLRF
system features high amplitude and phase stability, monitoring of the RF
signals from the RF network and the accelerating structures at 200 Hz, RF pulse
shaping over real-time interface integrated, RF breakdown detection, and
thermal resonance frequency correction feedback. The LLRF system control is
integrated in a Front-End Controller (FEC) which connects it to the LIGHT
control system. In this contribution we present the main features of the AVO
LLRF system, its operation and performance.