1

Overview ofAccelerators in
CanadaBob Laxdal
Deputy Director, Accelerator Division, TRIUMF
Sept. 11, 2023

2023-08-02

Discovery,
accelerated

IBIC, Saskatoon

Outline• Early History of Accelerators in Canada• 1945-1955• 1955-1965• Emergence of three centres• AECL, SAL, TRIUMF• Present landscape• CLS• TRIUMF• Industrial accelerators• Accelerator applications• SummarySept. 11, 2023

R. Laxdal, Overview of Accelerators in Canada, IBIC 2023

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Early History

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Historical Overview (1945-1955)• Accelerator activities in Canada were slowed by World War II technical advances in rf technology facilitated post-war
development and the rise in prominence of nuclear energy
increased available funding for sub-atomic physics

Highlights• 1947 - The first MeV class rf accelerator in Canada was a
4.6MeV microtron – the world’s first – National Research Council(NRC) in Ottawa - 8 turns, 3mA peak current• 1948 - The University of Saskatchewan acquired a 22 MeV Allis
Chalmers Betatron for nuclear physics and radiation therapy

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NRC Microtron
U of Sask Betatron4Historical Overview (1945-1955)

McGill Cyclotron• Accelerator activities in Canada were slowed by World War II technical advances in rf technology facilitated post-war
development and the rise in prominence of nuclear energy
increased available funding for sub-atomic physics

Highlights• 1947 - The first MeV class rf accelerator in Canada was a
4.6MeV microtron – the world’s first – National Research Council(NRC) in Ottawa - 8 turns, 3mA peak current• 1948 - The University of Saskatchewan acquired a 22 MeV Allis
Chalmers Betatron for nuclear physics and radiation therapy• 1949 – 100 MeV proton cyclotron was built at McGill University,
Montreal• 1950 – 70MeV GE electron synchrotron – Queen’s University• 1951 – 3MV van de Graaff installed at UBC (Vancouver)• 1952 – 3MV van de Graaff installed at Chalk River (NRC)
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UBC van de Graaff

5

Historical Overview (1955-1965)

6.3 MeV microtron• 1961 - U of Western Ontario – installed a racetrack
microtron (the world’s first)• eight orbits were achieved and a 40-mA pulsed
beam was extracted with maximum energy 6.3 MeV• A second therapy machine was built - 30-mA pulsed
beam was achieved for final energies of 9–15-MeV(6 orbits)

15 MeV microtron
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Historical Overview (1955-1965)• 1961 - U of Western Ontario – installed a racetrack
microtron (the world’s first)• eight orbits were achieved and a 40-mA pulsed
beam was extracted with maximum energy 6.3 MeV• A second therapy machine was built - 30-mA pulsed
beam was achieved for final energies of 9–15-MeV(6 orbits)• 1962 – McGill University designed and built a 8.5 MeV
electron linac (200mA pulses) – first linac installed at a
Canadian hospital – Royal Victorian hospital – Montreal

McGill 8.5MeV Linac• 1965 – U. of Manitoba – 50MeV spiral sector Hcyclotron for nuclear physics – important advances inpolarized sources and accelerator physics education –closed in 1989

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U. Manitoba Cyclotron

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Rise of Major Facilities

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8• Three accelerator
centres emerge

11• AECL - Chalk River• SAL / CLS – Saskatoon• TRIUMF - Vancouver

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AECL Chalk River

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Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)

5MV Tandem - AECL

• In 1952, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) was
created to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
• Funding was available to expand the development of
nuclear and accelerator technology• 1952 – 3MV van de Graaff installed at Chalk River (NRC)• 1959 - 5MV Tandem (HVEC) installed – world’s first tandem

5MV Tandem - AECL
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Tandem control room
11
Ted Litherland, Al Bromley and Harry Gove. (AlanBromley became US Presidential Science advisor)

AECL Chalk River – accelerators for nuclear physics

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AECL Chalk River – accelerators for nuclear physics• 1966 – 13MV MP Tandem installed• 1973 – AECL started to develop a superconducting cyclotron to
boost the energy of the tandem - 4 sector – K500
• 1985 – TASCC Superconducting cyclotron operational – thefirst superconducting cyclotron to operate with a pre-accelerator• 50MeV/u Li and 10MeV/u U• operated until 1996

Superconducting
Cyclotron

13MV MP Tandem
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AECL – High intensity accelerators• AECL had a strong interest in electronuclear breeding• 1966 – Intense Neutron Generator - ING proposal• 1GeV proton linac beam with 65 mA average current• Liquid bismuth target surrounded by heavy water• Proposal rejected but the project spawned muchdevelopment

ING – Thermal Neutron Facility• Prototype work•

Duo-plasmatron source – 120mA•

ETA (Electron test accelerator) - 20 mA, 4 MeV•

HCTF (High Current test facility) – 3.3-MeV proton linac –achieved 5 mA in 1985•

1981-1990 – RFQ1 (with LANL) - 79-mA, 600keV cw proton
beam achieved in 1990 – the highest of any RFQ at the time

ElectronSept.
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RFQ1

AECL Industrial and Medical Electron Linacs• Development of electron machines forindustrial/medical application

THERAC-25• 1982 - Compact electron linacs –double pass therapy linac – 5-25MeV –Therac 25 (Reflexotron)• 1984 – IMPELA – 10MeV 50kW for
industrial materials processing

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1m

14

SAL / CLS Saskatoon

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Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory (SAL)

SAL Linac• 1964 - Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory (SAL) opens- 140-MeV S-band Varian linac - upgraded to 220-MeV in
1975 and to 300 MeV in 1980.
• The EROS pulse stretcher ring was installed in 1986 –
100-300MeV with near 100% duty factor• The ring was a genius of prairie practicality. To reduce
costs the new ring was squeezed into the existingbuilding by hanging it from the ceiling above the linac• The SAL/EROS physics program was terminated in 1999
to make way for CLS

EROS pulse stretcher ring
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SAL -> CLS

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SAL -> CLS• 1978 – funding secured to add a Canadian beamline(CSRF) to the Synchrotron Radiation Center at the U. of
Wisconsin- Madison• 1990 – Canadian Institute for Synchrotron Radiation
launched• 1996 – proposal for a light source in Saskatoon –Canadian Light Source was accepted and funding was put
in place (federal, provincial, municipal and university) torealize the project• 2001 – building completed

Monochrometer from CSRF beamline• 2002 – SAL linac prepared as CLS injector at 250 MeV• 2002 - Booster commissioned• 2005 – First external user

Building in 2001
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test

The Canadian Light Source
Today• Located on University of Saskatchewan campus• 2.9 GeV ring, 220 mA• 12 cell double bend achromat lattice• 170.88 m circumference• 22 beamlines
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Canadian Light Source – Storage ring parameters
23

Storage Ring Parameters
250 MeV Linac

Lattice Type:Beam Energy:
Periodicity:
Circumference:
Beam current:
Straight Length:
Cavity Frequency:
Cavity Voltage:
Harmonic number:
Horizontal emittance
Energy spread (ΔE/E):
Bunch Length:

Double Bend Achromat
2.9 GeV
12 cell
170.88 m
220 mA
5.2 m
500 MHz
2.4 MV285
18.1 nm-radian
0.0011110 mm

https://www.lightsource.ca/facilities/machine.php
Canadian Light Source Status and Commissioning Results L. Dallin, R. Berg, J. Bergstrom, M. de Jong, X. Shen, R.M. Silzer and J.M.Vogt,
Proceedings of EPAC 2004, Lucerne, Switzerland
https://accelconf.web.cern.ch/e04/PAPERS/THPKF007.PDF

CLS Storage Ring RF Cavity•

First light source to use SRF technology fromthe beginning of operation•

Utilize a 500MHz CESR-B cavity developed atCornell University and built at ResearchInstrument, Germany• Effective voltage 2.4MV• CLS has an on-going project to add a second
cavity to the ring for redundancy and improved
performance

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CLS Booster Synchrotron• Accelerates from 250MeV -> 2.9GeV• I > 10mA
• Two 500-MHz DORIS-type five-cell cavities
driven by a single 75 kW klystron.
• Repetition rate of 1 Hz.
Booster Parameters
Injection energy
Final Energy:
Extracted current
Circumference:# of Dipoles
Rep rate
Cavity Frequency:
Cavity Voltage:
Horizontal emittance @ 2.9GeV
Momentum spread (Δp/p@2.9GeV):
Pulse Length @ 2.9GeV:
Sept. 11, 2023

250 MeV
2.9 GeV>10 mA
102.528 m
20
1 Hz
500 MHz1.75 MV
523nm
9.2e-4137 nsR. Laxdal, Overview of Accelerators in Canada, IBIC 2023

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CLS - Linac and Upgrade (2024)• CLS will install a new injector from Research Instruments inspring 2024

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- 250 MeV, 3 GHz- Replacing 6 existing rf structures with 3 longer structures- Same final electron energy but with higher efficiency at
the power plug and shorter RF pulses

SAL legacy linac

This section
supplied by CLS

New linac from RI

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2023 - Operation of CLS

2023 - Operation27

* M. Boland, et al, Proceedings of IPAC21

CLS2 Proposal *• CLS staff have proposed a 4th generation lightsource CLS2 with conceptual parameters of a 3 GeV
storage ring with circumference of 578 m• Goal parameters are a storage ring current of
300mA and challenging horizontal emittance of
0.025nm-rad• Design parameters would yield a gain of 1000 inbrilliance over CLS

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TRIUMF - Vancouver

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TRIUMF - Vancouver• Funded in 1968 with initially three universities backing the
proposal• TRIUMF was the third Meson Factory to be built in the world
behind SIN (Villigen, Switzerland – now PSI) and LAMPF (Los
Alamos, USA)
• The accelerator was much larger than any existing Canadian
accelerator of the time it still boasts the largest extraction
radius of any cyclotron at 7.8 meters.
• 500 MeV H- cyclotron• 6 magnet sectors• First beam was in 1974
• … and the accelerator is still going strong nearly 50 years
later now delivering 300 µA protons down multiple
beamlines for radioactive ion beam production, isotope
production, irradiation and neutron production

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The 500 MeV Cyclotron H- extraction by foil stripping31

 Highly efficient, allows variable energy
and simultaneous beam delivery –presently 3 beams extracted

H- IonCarbon Foilp

H- extraction
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⊗Bv

KAON Factory (1980-1994)

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Discovery,
accelerated• TRIUMF developed a proposal
for the KAON Factory –theTRIUMF cyclotron would inject
into a set of rings to produce
100µA, 30 GeV protons• Important for accelerator andbeam physics development
but ultimately the proposal
was rejected in 1994
• Realized finally as J-Parc inJapanMedical cyclotrons development (1988-1993)• TRIUMF collaborated with EBCO (now ACSI) on thedesign of industrial cyclotrons for medical isotope
production

33• This led to the TR30 (30MeV H- cyclotron at 1mA) andthe TR13/18 PET isotope machine – two TR30s and one
TR13 are presently operated at TRIUMF for isotope
production• ACSI has gone on to develop other variants based on theoriginal designs for the world market

TR13

TR30 installed at TRIUMF

ISAC - The North American ISOL Facility (1996- )ISAC is at the forefront of Radioactive Ion Beam
(RIB) science since 1996
• Two target stations bombarded by 500MeV protons(up to 50kW)2018-11-14

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

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Discovery,
accelerated• > 3000 h of RIB beam/year

ISAC RIB – Post accelerators

SCRF Lab

SC-Linac
6

DTL
RFQ

7

8

Refrigerator

World leading flexibility andperformance:- Fully variable energy from 0.15
MeV/u to 16.5 MeV/u

ECRchargebreeder

Mass
Separator
Targets

35

Discovery,
accelerated- Designed and built in house

ISAC-I Post Accelerators (Commissioned in 2001)
ISAC accelerators – room temperature cw RFQ and DTL• Fully variable in energy from 0.15 to 1.8MeV/u with high beam
quality• RFQ 35 MHz (split-ring structure) -> A/q ≤ 30 → E=150 keV/u• DTL 106MHz (IH structure) -> A/q ≤ 6 → 0.15 ≤ E ≤ 1.8 MeV/u• ECR and EBIS (CANREB) charge
breeders for accelerating A>30

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Discovery,
accelerated• Diagnostics specialized for low
intensity heavy ions (100 pps -> 108
pps)

ISAC-II Post Accelerator (commissioned in 2006, 2010)

ISAC-II accelerator – superconducting cw
quarter wave resonators linac• Phase I – 20 MV added in 2006
• Phase 2 – 20 MV added in 2010

• Provides 0-40MV with high beam quality
A/q=6 → E ≤ 6 MeV/u
A/q=3 → E ≤ 15 MeV/u

2018-11-14

Sept. 11, 2023

Phase 2

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

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Discovery,
accelerated

Phase 1TRIUMF accelerator complex today

ISAC-IIHigh energy

ISAC-I

500 MeV Cyclotron and BL1A
2018-11-14

IAMI

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

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Discovery,
accelerated

Isotope
Cyclotrons

Low andmediumenergyTRIUMF accelerator complex today

ISAC-IIHigh energy

Primary beam driver (1974):

500 MeV Cyclotron, 300 µA, HProduces rare isotopes, neutrons andmuons

ISAC-I

500 MeV Cyclotron and BL1A
2018-11-14

IAMI

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

39

Discovery,
accelerated

Isotope
Cyclotrons

Low andmediumenergyTRIUMF accelerator complex today

ISAC-IIHigh energy

Primary beam driver (1974):

500 MeV Cyclotron, 300 µA, HProduces rare isotopes, neutrons andmuons
Isotope
Cyclotrons

Low andmediumenergyIsotope Separator and Accelerator
facility – ISAC (1996)•

ISAC-I: Normal conducting-linac• 0.15-1.8 MeV/u (2000)• ISAC-II: Superconducting-linac• 1.5-16.5 MeV/u (2006)

500 MeV Cyclotron and BL1A
2018-11-14

IAMI

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

40

Discovery,
accelerated

ISAC-ITRIUMF accelerator complex today

ISAC-IIHigh energy

Primary beam driver (1974):

500 MeV Cyclotron, 300 µA, HProduces rare isotopes, neutrons andmuons

ISAC-I

Isotope
Cyclotrons

Low andmediumenergyIsotope Separator and Accelerator
facility – ISAC (1996)•

ISAC-I: Normal conducting-linac• 0.15-1.8 MeV/u (2000)• ISAC-II: Superconducting-linac• 1.5-16.5 MeV/u (2006)

500 MeV Cyclotron and BL1A
2018-11-14

IAMI

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

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Discovery,
accelerated

4 (+1) Cyclotrons for medical isotope
production – TR30 and TR13 designed by
TRIUMF (1990)

TRIUMF accelerator complex today

ISAC-IIHigh energy

Primary beam driver (1974):

500 MeV Cyclotron, 300 µA, HProduces rare isotopes, neutrons and
muons

ARIEL
ISAC-I

Isotope
Cyclotrons

Low andmediumenergy•ISAC-I: Normal conducting-linac• 0.15-1.8 MeV/u (2000)• ISAC-II: Superconducting-linac• 1.5-16.5 MeV/u (2006)

Advanced Rare Isotope Laboratory –ARIEL (in progress)

500 MeV Cyclotron and BL1A•
IAMI

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

Superconducting electron linac• 30 MeV, 10 mA, cw (2021)

42

Discovery,
accelerated

4 (+1) Cyclotrons for medical isotope
production – TR30 and TR13 designed by
TRIUMF (1990)

elinac

2018-11-14

Isotope Separator and Accelerator
facility – ISAC (1996)

Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory (2010-present)

ARIEL

elinac

Sept. 11, 2023

 Two new RIB production target stations, 50 kW protons
 100 kW electrons
 Multi-user operation with up to threesimultaneous isotope beams (9000 RIB
hours)
 Efficient/pure RIB acceleration: EBIS Charge
State Breeder and 1/20,000 resolution HRS(high-resolution mass separator).
 Production of medical isotopes in proton
target station beam dump
R. Laxdal, Overview of Accelerators in Canada, IBIC 2023

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Discovery,
accelerated

ARIEL objectives

ARIEL superconducting electron linac• Designed and built at TRIUMF• 1.3GHz superconducting linac with three nine-cell SRF cavities• 30 MeV and 300 µA (10kW) beam established in 2021

Klystron Gallery
Cold Box

E-Gun HV
SupplyE-Gun
VesselSept. 11, 2023

test Overview of Accelerators in Canada, IBIC 2023
R. Laxdal,

ACM1

MEBT

ICM

LEBT

ARIEL completion status and timeline
45

ARIEL Objectives:
 ARIEL building complete

ARIEL Building

 ARIEL hot cell completedTarget hallshielding CANREB beamline and equipment
installed – EBIS and HRS
 AETE prototype target module completed
and tested BL4N beam extracted into vault
 E-Linac at 10kW (required day 1 power)
 RIB from AETE to ISAC in 2026
 RIB from APTW to ISAC in 2027
 Medical isotopes in 2028
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TargetmoduleHotcellWide variety of accelerator
technologies.

High energy

ARIEL
ISAC-I

Low andmediumenergyelinac
2018-11-14

500 MeV Cyclotron

Isotope
Cyclotrons•

High intensity H- cyclotrons•

Room temperature cw heavy ion
linacs•Superconducting linacs forelectrons and hadrons•

High power production targets•

Radioactive ion beam production
and acceleration•

Remote handling•

Diagnostics for high intensity
protons and electrons and low
intensity heavy ions

Production of Secondary Particle Beams at TRIUMF

46

Discovery,
accelerated

ISAC-II

Accelerator Companies and Users

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Canadian accelerator suppliers• There are also several Canadian companies devoted toeither producing turn-key accelerators or parts for theaccelerator community• ACSI (Vancouver, BC) – Offering high intensity proton
cyclotrons from 12-33 MeV• Best Cyclotron (Vancouver BC) - six general energy
domains for BCS cyclotron systems delivering protons
at: 7.5, 9.5, 15, 25, 35 and 70 MeV.
• Mevex (Stittsville, Ontario) – 5, 7, 10 MeV e-linacs has built more than 100 accelerators for sterilization,
medical applications and research institutes• D-Pace (Nelson BC) – supplies accelerator hardware
including ion sources, diagnostics, beamlines,
magnets, isotope target station

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Accelerator applications in Canada
28 cyclotrons installed across Canada primarily for isotope production•Fedoruk Centre, U. of Sask. Saskatoon•BC Cancer Agency - Vancouver•BWXT – Vancouver•Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton•Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg•Regional Health Sciences Centre, Thunder Bay•Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton•Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa.
•Lawson Health Research Institute, London•Toronto General Hospital - Toronto•Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto.
•Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal•University of Sherbrooke Hospital, Sherbrooke•Pharmalogic, Montreal

Image from Fedoruk Centre, Saskatoon

Linac based isotope production• Canadian Isotope Innovations – Saskatoon – Cu-67, Mo-99/Tc-99m

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Summary• The 20th century post war years saw a rapid
growth in accelerator installations across Canada
primarily driven by the interest in nuclear physics
and radiation therapy• Significant ground-breaking work was done at
AECL Chalk River• Two centres presently exist for accelerator-based
science – TRIUMF and CLS• A host of smaller facilities dot the landscapeprimarily for medical and industrial applications
supported by Canadian industry
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References and Acknowledgements
Reviews of Accelerator Science and Technology, pp. 225-267 (2016)
Accelerator Science and Technology in Canada — From the Microtron to TRIUMF, Superconducting
Cyclotrons and the Canadian Light Source, M. K. Craddock and R. E. Laxdal
https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/accelerators/Pages/Cyclotron.aspx
https://fedorukcentre.ca/
https://www.d-pace.com/
https://advancedcyclotron.com/
http://www.bestcyclotron.com/index.html
https://www.mevex.com/
http://isotopeinnovations.com/

Thanks to Tonia Batten for slides from CLS!

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Discovery,
accelerated

52

Thank you,
Merci