Extended anomaly detection and breakdown prediction in LINAC 4’s RF power source output

Linear accelerators are complex machines that can face significant periods of downtime due to anomalies and the subsequent failure of one or more components. The need for reliable linear accelerator operations (LINAC) is critical to the spread of this method in the medical environment. At CERN, where LINACs are used for fundamental research, similar problems are encountered, such as the appearance of jitter in plasma sources (2 MHz RF generators), which can have a significant effect on subsequent beam quality in the accelerator. The SmartLINAC project was created to increase LINACs’ reliability by early detection and prediction of anomalies in its operations, down to the component level. This article shows how anomalies were first discovered and goes deep into understanding the nature of the data. The research adds new elements to anomaly detection approaches used to record jitter periods on 2MHz RF generators.