High current beam transport with multiple beam arrays

Highlights of recent experimental and theoretical research progress on the high current beam transport of single and multiple beams by the Heavy Ion Fusion Accelerator Research (HIFAR) group at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) are presented. In the single beam transport experiment (SBTE), stability boundaries and the emittance growth of a space charge dominated beam in a long quadrupole transport channel were measured and compared with theory and computer simulations. Also, a multiple beam ion induction linac (MBE-4) is being constructed at LBL which will permit study of multiple beam transport arrays, and acceleration and bunch length compression of individually focused beamlets. Various design considerations of MBE-4 regarding scaling laws, nonlinear effects, misalignments, and transverse and longitudinal space charge effects are summarized. Some aspects of longitudinal beam dynamics including schemes to generate the accelerating voltage waveforms and to amplify beam current are also discussed