Ion beam focusing with cone optics for WDM experiments

Beam focusing properties of cone optics were systematically investigated by Monte Carlo simulations under various combinations of beam and cone parameters. To optimize the cone optic design for accelerator-driven WDM experiments, the beam intensity gains after cone focusing were evaluated from the simulation results as functions of cone wall material and shape parameters such as taper angle and wall curvature. The uniformity of the cone-focused beam was also examined by considering not only various cone parameters but also the cases involving the misalignment of the cone optic. From the results, a parabolic gold cone was found to be the best choice at least for relatively light ions such as lithium having MeV energies. It is also found that although smaller taper angle improves the total beam transport efficiency in the optic, it brings more difficulties in the alignment of the optic because the alignment accuracy should be less than a half of the taper angle to obtain acceptable uniformity in the beam energy deposition on the target.