Accelerating Structures

In this lecture the basic concepts of electromagnetic waves in accelerating structures are discussed. After a short introduction on the propagation of electromagnetic waves and on the concept of travelling wave and standing wave structures, the most important parameters and figures of merit used to describe the acceleration efficiency and the performance of accelerating structures in terms of power consumption is presented. The process of RF design optimization is also discussed. Finally a review of several type of structures using different accelerating modes is given, with examples of interest for medical accelerators.