LhARA – the facility for radiobiological research with an FFA in its heart

Speaker: Jaroslaw Pasternak

Abstract: The “Laser-hybrid Accelerator for Radiobiological Applications,” LhARA, is proposed as a novel, flexible facility dedicated to the study of radiobiology. LhARA will be a hybrid accelerator system in which laser interactions drive the creation of a large flux of protons or light ions that are captured using a plasma (Gabor) lens and formed into a beam. It is proposed that LhARA be developed in two stages. In the first stage, a programme of in vitro radiobiology will be served with proton beams with energies between 10 and 15 MeV. In stage two, the beam will be accelerated using a fixed-field alternating-gradient accelerator (FFA). This will allow experiments to be carried out in vitro and in vivo with proton beam energies of up to 127 MeV. In addition, ion beams with energies up to 33.4 MeV per nucleon will be available for in vitro and in vivo experiments. The technologies demonstrated in LhARA, which have wide application, will be developed to allow particle-beam therapy to be delivered in a new regimen, combining a variety of ion species in a single treatment fraction and exploiting ultra-high dose rates, including the “FLASH” regime. This talk presents briefly the design of the entire facility and focuses on the studies of the FFA ring post-accelerator.