LhARA fortnightly Meeting 02^nd March 2021; 14:00 GMT

Notes

1. Notes of previous meetings and actions
   
   • Status of actions:
     • None recorded.

2. Update on STFC initiative to prepare proposal to UKRI Infrastructure Advisory Committee: KL
   • HH: outlined possible synergies, or possibility of aligned interest, between the development of laser technology for defence and what is needed for LhARA. This possible synergies were briefly discussed.
   • AG: Noted that the opportunity provided by the STFC initiative was of substantial benefit and supported strong engagement.

3. Radiobiology programme and articulation of LhARA USPs: J. Parsons, A. Giacca
   • JPar: noted the breadth of activity that was required to take the programme forward. Pressure of other work had limited that amount of work that could be done and so there was no update this week.
   • AG: argued that the USP for LhARA as the purity and quality of LhARA proton and ion beams.1

4. Status and progress in key LhARA development themes:
   1 Evaluation of the benefits of the initiative & optimisation of the R&D programme: S. Green, P. Price
   
   • AG reported that SG, PP and he had a plan for the next steps that would be taken and now needed to make the first concrete actions.
   2 Development of next steps in LhARA accelerator R&D programme: C. Whyte, J. Pasternak
   
   • CW: three items to mention:
     • Plan now to complete the paper on the first Gabor lens prototype and its exposure at the Surrey Ion Bean Centre. Good progress had been made in the modelling of the plasma and on understanding the impact on the beam. It was hoped that the publication could be circulated to the Gabor lens group in a couple of weeks.
     • Now considering a paper on the (re)optimisation of Stage 1 to take into account the improved understanding of laser/foil and Gabor lenses. Alternatives to the Gabor lens would be addressed in the paper to demonstrate the benefit of the non-neutral plasma approach.
     • There is ow the beginnings of a programme to define a programme of calculation and experiment to determine the parameter set to be used in a second Gabor lens prototype in collaboration with the Swansea group who are expert in Penning-Malmberg traps. The concept is to to simulate and validate electron trapping using the existing set-up at Swansea before moving on to the specification of a new prototype. This work is conceived to culminate in a publication and a proposal for the new lens prototype.
   3 Proton- and ion-acoustic imaging: J. Bamber, P. Beard
   
   • Jamie Guggenheim (Brm) had joined the group upon his arrival in Brm from UCL. The possibility that the proof of principle programme could be carried out on the cyclotron in Birmingham would be considered.
   4 Outline Conceptual Design Report for the PoP biological-assessment facility: R. McLauchlan, T. Price
   
   • No progress to report this week; too much to do in respect of COVID, and the BIR conference.

5. All other updates:
   • Any update: All
     • None.

6. DoNM :
   • 16Mar21; 14:00 GMT

7. AOB
   • 01Jul21: Meeting at RAL/Online: Future accelerators for biomedical applications -- update; KL

Agenda

1. Notes of previous meetings and actions
   
   • Status of actions:
     • None recorded.

2. Update on STFC initiative to prepare proposal to UKRI Infrastructure Advisory Committee: KL

3. Radiobiology programme and articulation of LhARA USPs: J. Parsons, A. Giacca

4. Status and progress in key LhARA development themes:
   1 Evaluation of the benefits of the initiative & optimisation of the R&D programme: S. Green, P. Price
   2 Development of next steps in LhARA accelerator R&D programme: C. Whyte, J. Pasternak
   3 Proton- and ion-acoustic imaging: J. Bamber, P. Beard
   4 Outline Conceptual Design Report for the PoP biological-assessment facility: R. McLauchlan, T. Price
   

5. All other updates:
   • Any update: All

6. DoNM :
   • 16Mar21; 14:00 GMT

7. AOB
   • 01Jul21: Meeting at RAL/Online: Future accelerators for biomedical applications -- update; KL

---

Reminder of summary/outreach documents:

• Mission statement: S. Green
• Timeline: today to clinical system: K.Long, T.Kolkalova-Wheldon
• PPI Strategy: H.Hall, G.Jones
• Industrial strategy: F.Jamieson, S.Towe
• Stakeholder plan: P.Price, S.Green, K. Long

---