A study of interferometric distance measurement systems on a prototype rapid tunnel reference surveyor and the effects of reference network errors at the International Linear Collider

The International Linear Collider (ILC) aims to collide electrons and positrons with a centre of mass energy of 500GeV and a luminosity of 2×1034 cm−2 s−1. To achieve this luminosity, the nominal final emittance of the electron and positron beams have to be below 10μm.rad horizontally and 0.04&mu;m.rad vertically. To prevent the emittance from becoming too large, the main linacs will require alignment at an unprecedented level. The ILC main linacs will be aligned with respect to a reference network which runs along the entire length of the tunnel. The Linear Collider Alignment and Survey (LiCAS) Rapid Tunnel Reference Surveyor (RTRS) is the prototype of a device proposed to survey the ILC reference network. The LiCAS RTRS has several measurement systems; its Frequency Scanning Interferometry (FSI) measurement system is studied in this thesis. The FSI system has three distinct sub-systems: the reference interferometers, the external FSI measurement system and the internal FSI measurement system. The errors on the length of the reference interferometers are shown to be of the order of 1.1μm (0.3ppm). The external FSI measurement system is shown to measure distances close to 0.42m with errors of &pm;1.9&mu;m stat &pm;0.16&mu;m syst and the internal FSI measurement system is shown to measure distances close to 4.2m with errors of &pm;0.24&mu;m stat &pm;1.6&mu;m syst. A survey of the ILC reference network using laser trackers is simulated without taking account of systematic measurement errors from refraction in the tunnel air. The simulated networks are used to misalign the simulated accelerators in Dispersion Matched Steering (DMS) simulations. The DMS simulations show that only 30% of the simulated accelerators produce an acceptable final corrected vertical emittance. It is further shown that the introduction of long range distance measurements between primary reference markers (PRMs) using GPS, reduces the long range error growth in the network, and that 95% of simulated accelerators give acceptable performance. A simplified network simulation model, which is capable of simulating reference networks surveyed by conventional and novel devices, is produced and compares favorably to full simulations.</p

A laser based straightness monitor for a prototype automated linear collider tunnel surveying system

For precise measurement of new TeV-scale physics and precision studies of the Higgs Boson, a new lepton collider is required. To enable meaningful analysis, a centre of mass energy of 500GeV and luminosity of 1034cm-2s-1 is needed. The planned 31km long International Linear Collider is capable of meeting these targets, requiring a final emittance of 10 micro-radians horizontally and 35nmrad vertically. To achieve these demanding emittance values, the accelerator components in the main linacs must be aligned against an accurately mapped network of reference markers along the entire tunnel. An automated system could map this tunnel network quickly, accurately, safely and repeatedly; the Linear Collider Alignment and Survey (LiCAS) Rapid Tunnel Reference Surveyor (RTRS) is a working prototype of such a system. The LiCAS RTRS is a train of measurement units that accurately locate regularly spaced retro-reflector markers using Frequency Scanning Interferometry (FSI). The unit locations with respect to each other are precisely reconstructed using a Laser Straightness Monitor (LSM) and tilt sensor system, along with a system of internal FSI lines. The design, commissioning, practical usage, calibration, and reconstruction performance of the LSM is addressed in this work. The commissioned RTRS is described and the properties of the LSM components are investigated in detail. A method of finding the position of laser beam spots on the LSM cameras is developed, along with a process of combining individual spot positions into a more robust measurement compatible with the data from other sub-systems. Laser beam propagation along the LSM is modelled and a robust method of reconstructing CCD beam spot position measurements into positions and orientations of the LSM units is described. A method of calibrating LSM units using an external witness system is presented, along with a way of using the overdetermined nature of the LSM to improve calibration constant errors by including data taken from unwitnessed runs. The reconstruction uncertainty, inclusive of both statistical and systematic effects, of the LSM system is found to be of 5.8 microns × 5.3 microns in lateral translations and 27.6 microradians × 34.1 microradians in rotations perpendicular to the beam, with an uncertainty of 51.1 microradians in rotations around the beam coming from a tilt-sensor arrangement.This thesis is not currently available in ORA

Absolute distance metrology using frequency swept lasers

This thesis describes and evaluates two new interferometric distance measurement methods based upon the well known method of Frequency Scanning Interferometry (FSI). These new methods are known as Dynamic FSI and Cascaded FSI. Dynamic FSI addresses the two problems, commonly seen in previous FSI implementa- tions, of not being able to measure a moving target and having a slow measurement rate. This method measures stationary and moving targets equally well, and can determine the distance to the target at all times during the measurement, in contrast to previous methods, which obtain only a single measured length from a measurement process which can take up to a second to make. Cascaded FSI was developed with the aim of increasing the accuracy and precision of FSI. This method allows for measurements with precision equal to that of displacement interferometry, and also provides a way of measuring length relative to the frequencies of atomic absorption lines, which are inherently more stable length references than a physical length artefact.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo