Description
Hadron therapy with laser-accelerated particles is an emerging research area that introduces significant challenges for beam capture and transport due to the large divergence and broad phase space of the produced ions. Efficient collection of these particles is essential for the development of practical laser-driven therapy beamlines.
In this work, the use of solenoid magnets for the capture and transport of laser-accelerated ions is investigated through particle tracking simulations. Fully stripped carbon ions with an energy of 100 MeV/u and an initial full divergence angle of 20° were modeled. A transport line consisting of six solenoids placed 200 mm downstream of the target and spaced by 50 mm was analyzed.
Additional studies were performed to evaluate the influence of beam divergence and magnet geometry on the transport efficiency. Divergence angles between 10° and 40° (full angle) were considered, together with variations in the solenoid inner diameter. Simulations were also performed for a non monoenergetic ion beam with an energy spectrum ranging from 66 MeV/u to 100 MeV/u.
The results show that the proposed configuration achieves a transmission efficiency of approximately 25% while simultaneously providing strong focusing of the beam. The resulting reduction in beam spread improves the suitability of the transported beam for downstream energy selection and beam conditioning systems.
These findings indicate that compact solenoid arrays may provide an effective solution for the capture and transport of laser-accelerated ions in future laser-driven hadron therapy facilities.
