NSCL Directory Profile

Felix Marti
Charge Stripper Area Group Leader
Accelerator Physics & Engineering
 
PhD, Physics, Michigan State University 1977
Joined NSCL in July 1979
Phone(517) 908-7360
Fax(517) 353-5967
Office1121
 
Photograph of Felix Marti

Selected Publications:
The Cyclotron Gas Stopper project at the
NSCL, G.K. Pang et al., Proc. Part. Accel.
Conf. PAC07, 3588 (2007)

Design, Construction and Commissioning of
the SUSI ECR, P.A. Zavodszky et al., Proc. Part.
Accel. Conf. PAC07, 3766 (2007)

End-to-end beam dynamics simulation of the
ISF driver LINAC, Q. Zhao et al., Proc. Part. Accel.
Conf. PAC07, 1775 (2007)

An upgrade to the NSCL to produce intense
beams of exotic nuclei, R. C. York et al., Proc.
Lin. Acc. Conf. LINAC06, 103 (2006)

Study of space charge effects using a small
storage ring that works in the isochronous regime,
F. Marti, E. Pozdeyev and J. Rodriguez,
Proc. 17th Intl. Conf. Cyclotrons and their Applications
2004, p. 430 (2005)
My research interests are in the area of accelerator physics. I have been involved in the design and construction of the two superconducting cyclotrons (K500 and K1200) used for nuclear physics research at NSCL, as well as a neutron cancer therapy cyclotron used in a Detroit hospital.

NSCL has a long trajectory of innovation in the design of cyclotrons starting in the early 1960s. In the last few decades the introduction of high field superconducting magnets and more recently superconducting radio frequency acceleration systems has allowed the construction of more compact and consequently less expensive accelerators.

The design of compact accelerators requires the solution of complicated electromagnetic problems with high accuracy. As an example, the magnets have to be machined and aligned to accuracies of tenths of micrometers. The development of sophisticated software for the solution of electromagnetic problems has allowed the construction of new accelerators with very little prototyping. The accelerator group at NSCL has developed a comprehensive library of beam dynamics codes used to simulate the physics of beams in cyclotrons and linacs.



View of a beam bunch in the storage ring after breaking up due to space charge forces. The beam is moving from left to right. The red line shows the intensity projected along the bunch length. The study of the formation and evolution of the clusters has been the topic of student research projects.


Students in the accelerator physics area are involved in the design from basic principles of the different components of the accelerators as well as in experimental work during commissioning of new devices. The study of the internal forces within the beam (space charge effects) has been the topic of several students in recent years. The goal is to simulate the effects of high-energy accelerators with beam power of the order of a megawatt in a small-scale accelerator with beam power of just a few watts. With that in mind a small storage ring was built that is dedicated full time to student work. A very successful experimental program confirmed the theoretical predictions of beam instabilities.

The accelerator group has worked with several industrial companies that fabricate accelerators for cancer therapy serving as advisors and transferring new technologies.