OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF THE LHC PROTON BEAMS WITH THE SPS LOW TRANSITION ENERGY OPTICS

Abstract An optics in the SPS with lower integer tunes (20 versus 26) was proposed and introduced in machine studies since 2010, as a measure for increasing transverse and longitudinal instability thresholds, especially at low energy, for the LHC proton beams. After two years of machine studies and careful optimisation, the new Q20 optics became operational in September 2012 and steadily delivered beam to the LHC until the end of the run. This paper reviews the operational performance of the Q20 optics with respect to transverse and longitudinal beam characteristics in the SPS, enabling high brightness beams injected into the LHC. Aspects of longitudinal beam stability, transmission, high-energy orbit control and beam transfer are discussed

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF THE LHC PROTON BEAMS WITH THE SPS LOW TRANSITION ENERGY OPTICS

Abstract An optics in the SPS with lower integer tunes (20 versus 26) was proposed and introduced in machine studies since 2010, as a measure for increasing transverse and longitudinal instability thresholds, especially at low energy, for the LHC proton beams. After two years of machine studies and careful optimisation, the new Q20 optics became operational in September 2012 and steadily delivered beam to the LHC until the end of the run. This paper reviews the operational performance of the Q20 optics with respect to transverse and longitudinal beam characteristics in the SPS, enabling high brightness beams injected into the LHC. Aspects of longitudinal beam stability, transmission, high-energy orbit control and beam transfer are discussed

Design and Beam Measurements of Modified Fast Extraction Schemed in the CERN PS for Installing a Dummy Septum to Mitigate Ring Irradiation

The proposed Multi-Turn Extraction (MTE) for the CERN PS allows reducing the overall extraction losses for high intensity beams. The required longitudinal structure of the proton beam induces unavoidable beam losses at the magnetic extraction septum. The installation of a dummy septum with an appropriate shielding has been proposed to localize losses and to shadow the magnetic septum. Such a device, located in the extraction region, imposes tight constraints on the available beam aperture. Modified extraction schemes have been proposed, which will be presented and discussed in detail in this paper together with the measured performance

SPS transverse beam scraping and LHC injection losses

Machine protection sets strict requirements for the quality of the injected beam, in particular in the transverse plane. Losses at aperture restrictions and protection elements have to be kept at a minimum. Particles in the beam tails are lost at the tight transfer line collimators and can trigger the LHC beam abort system. These particles have to be removed by scrapers in the vertical and horizontal plane in the SPS. Scraping has become vital for high intensity LHC operation. This paper shows the dependence of injection quality on the SPS scraping and discusses an improved scraper setting up strategy for better reproducibility with the current scraper system

Injection MD

This note summarizes the results obtained at injection during the 2nd MD block and the floating MD block in July. Highlights are presented for injection in the LHC with the Q20 SPS optics, influence of the supercycle and injection with 25 ns bunch spacing. Beams were successfully injected into the LHC using the Q20 optics [1, 3]. Small corrections were needed to steer the beam in the transfer lines. Dispersion measurements were conducted for both beams. The horizontal normalized dispersion in TI2 was a factor 2 smaller for Q20 with respect to Q26, for TI8 on the other hand the opposite was observed. The results for injection loss dependency on super cycle composition show only a small increase in losses for beam 2. The losses observed must therefore mainly come from other sources such as shot-by-shot stability or quality of scraping. For the injection with 25 ns bunch spacing bunches were injected for both beams. For B1 up to the maximum of 288 bunches. For B2 on the other only up to 144 bunches were injected, due to the higher number of voltage breakdowns for a P8 injection kicker magnet. There is enough margin for increasing the bunch intensity and at the same time keeping losses below 30% for operational flexibility

Sources and solutions for LHC transfer line stability issues

The LHC is filled through two 3 km long transfer lines from the last pre-injector, the SPS. During the LHC proton run 2011 large drifts, shot-by-shot and even bunch-bybunch trajectory variations were observed with the consequence of high losses at injection and frequent lengthy trajectory correction campaigns. The causes of these instabilities have been studied and will be presented in this paper. Based on the studies solutions have been proposed. The effect of the solutions will be shown and the remaining issues will be summarized

Transfer lines - stability and optimization

During the LHC proton run 2011 large drifts, shot-by- shot and even bunch-by-bunch trajectory variations were observed with the consequence of high losses at injection and frequent lengthy trajectory correction campaigns. The different effects will be quantified and an estimate for downtime caused by them in 2011 will be given. The sources of the instabilities, solutions for 2012 and achievable improvements will be discussed. Possible future up- grades will also be mentioned

MD on Injection Quality – Longitudinal and Transverse Parameters

Losses at injection depend on the beam quality in the longitudinal and transverse plane in the injectors. During the MD on the 30th of June to 1st of July, 2011, many parameters in the injectors were de-tuned on purpose to see the effect on injection losses and hence bring some understanding to recurring problems with injection quality during LHC filling. The effect of the 800 MHz in the SPS, radial steering, larger momentum spread at the SPS extraction and many other longitudinal parameters were studied during the MD. The MD showed however that the injection losses are dominated by far by the transverse size of the particle population. If the SPS scrapers are correctly positioned, injection losses are low even at the presence of quality issues in the longitudinal plane. To be able to inject brighter 50 ns beams or eventually 25 ns beams, injection losses with nominal emittances (3.5 m) must still be acceptable. This MD showed that nominal emittances can be injected with similar loss levels as the typical 2 – 2.5 m emittances of the single batch 50 ns beams, provided the scraping in the SPS is well under control. The sensitivity of injection losses to transfer line steering could not be addressed in the MD due to lack of time

Stability of the LHC transfer lines

The LHC is filled from the SPS through two 3 km transfer lines. The injected beam parameters need to be well under control for luminosity performance, machine protection and operational efficiency. Small fractions of beam loss on the transfer line collimation system create showers which can trigger the sensitive LHC beam loss monitor system nearby and cause a beam abort during filling. The stability of the transfer line trajectory through the collimators is particularly critical in this respect. This paper will report on the transfer line trajectory stability during the proton run in 2011, correlations with injection losses, correction frequency and the most likely sources for the observed oscillations

SPS Beam Steering for LHC Extraction

Beside producing beams for fixed target operation, the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerates beams for injection into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). During the 2012-2013 run drifts of the extracted beam horizontal trajectories have been observed and lengthy optimizations in the transfer lines were performed to reduce particle losses. The observed trajectory drifts are consistent with the measured SPS orbit drifts at extraction. The feasibility of an automatic beam steering towards a “golden” orbit at the extraction septa, has been therefore investigated. The challenges and constraints related to the implementation of such a correction in the SPS are described. Simulation results are presented and a possible operational steering strategy is proposed. As the observed drift is mainly horizontal, the horizontal plane only will be considered