Beam dynamics simulation studies of a 100 MeV RF electron linac

We have studied the beam dynamics of a 100 MeV rf electron linear accelerator for neutron generation purposes at APPD, BARC, Mumbai. The linac is designed to provide optimal beams to generate 1012-1014 n/sec for measurement of neutron cross-section of (n, gamma), (n, xn) and (n, f) reactions. An optium choice of beam parameters is performed to reduce the transverse emittance in order to limit the radioactivity and the cost of the linac itself and increase the transmission efficiency. The tracking simulations in the linac include the self field effects in the injector section. The bunch compressor is designed to reduce the bunch length with a careful choice of beam parameters and accelerator parameters such that the transverse emittance is not significantly increased. The linac consists of electron gun followed by an accelerating section. The accelerating section consists of 1.3 GHz TESLA cavities of length 1 m. Beam focusing is ensured by solenoids, quadrupoles. The bunch compressor is a 4-dipole chicane magnet to compress the bunch. This beam dynamics study with ASTRA and ELLEGANT explores the optimized beam parameters and predict the beam quality for the linac operation. (author)