Work is underway at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to design and build a small-scale, heavy ion recirculating induction accelerator. An essential part of this design work is the development of small nonintercepting diagnostics to measure beam current and position. This paper describes some of this work, with particular emphasis on the development of a small capacitive probe beam position monitor to resolve beam position to the 100 {mu}m level in a 6 cm diameter beam pipe. Initial measured results with an 80 keV potassium ion beam are presented.

We detail the design and development of a miniature thermal cycling instrument for performing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that uses microfabricated, silicon-based reaction chambers. The MEMS-based, battery-operated instrument shows significant improvements over commercial thermal cycling instrumentation. Several different biological systems have been amplified and verified with the miniature PCR instrument including the Human Immunodeficiency Virus; both cloned and genomic DNA templates of {beta} globin; and the genetic disease, Cystic Fibrosis from human DNA. The miniaturization of a PCR thermal cycler is the initial module of a fully-integrated portable, low-power, rapid, and highly efficient bioanalytical instrument.

We present experimental results of a version of the Choppertron microwave generator designed to work with the high emittance beam of the Advanced Test Accelerator (ATA). Simulations showed that a 800-A, 120 {pi} cm-mrad beam (typical of ATA), could produce 800 MW of rf (11.4 GHz) power using two 12-cell, traveling-wave output structures. Funding contraints prevented final tuning of the modulator system and limited the experiment to 530 MW in narrow pulses. Over 400 MW were extracted from a single output structure through fundamental waveguide. Beam breakup was successfully suppressed with >800 amperes transported through the extraction section.

In a heavy-ion driven, inertial confinement fusion power plant, a space-charge dominated beam of heavy ions must be transported through a reactor chamber and focused on a 2-3 mm spot at the target. The spot size at the target is determined by the beam emittance and space charge, plus chromatic aberrations in the focusing lens system and errors in aiming the beam. The gain of the ICF capsule depends on the focal spot size. We are investigating low density, nearly-ballistic transport using an electromagnetic, r-z particle-in-cell code. Even at low density (n {approx} 5 {times} 10{sup 13} cm{sup {minus}3}), beam stripping may be important. To offset the effects of stripping and reduce the space charge, the beam is partially charge neutralized via a pre-formed plasma near the chamber entrance. Additional electrons for charge neutralization come from ionization of the background gas by the beam. Simulations have shown that stripping can greatly increase the spot size; however, partial neutralization can offset most of this increase.