A high-intensity muon source driven by a continuous-wave superconducting linac holds the potential to significantly advance the intensity frontier of muon sources. Alongside advancements in accelerator technologies, breakthroughs in muon production target and collection schemes are essential. After a brief introduction to the development of the accelerator-driven system superconducting linac, a novel muon production target is proposed, utilizing a free-surface liquid lithium jet capable of handling the heat power generated by a proton beam with an energy of 600 MeV and a current of 5 mA. It is predicted by our simulation studies that the lithium target is more efficient in surface muon production compared to the rotating graphite target. The parameter space of the front end consisting of a lithium target and a large-aperture capture solenoid is explored, from the perspective of production efficiency, capture efficiency, and characteristics of the surface muon beam.

• Received 4 September 2023
• Accepted 12 February 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.27.023403

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society