Review of Heavy-ion Induced Desorption Studies for Particle Accelerators

During high-intensity heavy-ion operation of several particle accelerators worldwide, large dynamic pressure rises of orders of magnitude were caused by lost beam ions that impacted under grazing angle onto the vacuum chamber walls. This ion-induced desorption, observed, for example, at CERN, GSI, and BNL, can seriously limit the ion intensity, luminosity, and beam lifetime of the accelerator. For the heavyion program at CERN's Large Hadron Collider collisions between beams of fully stripped lead (208Pb82+) ions with a beam energy of 2.76 TeV/u and a nominal luminosity of 10**27 cm**-2 s**-1 are foreseen. The GSI future project FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) aims at a beam intensity of 10**12 uranium (238U28+) ions per second to be extracted from the synchrotron SIS18. Over the past years an experimental effort has been made to study the observed dynamic vacuum degradations, which are important to understand and overcome for present and future particle accelerators. The paper reviews the results obtained in several laboratories using dedicated test setups, the mitigation techniques found, and their implementation in accelerators

The Quadrupole Resonator, Design Considerations and Layout of a New Instrument for the RF Characterization of Superconducting Surface Samples

A disk-shaped superconducting sample is welded onto an Nb support cylinder and exposed to the magnetic RF field of a four-wire transmission line resonator. The fields on the cylinder wall decay in a c ut-off like fashion in such a way that they perturb the measurement very little. RF dissipation of the disk is determined by substitution with a d.c. heater on the back of the sample which is made to produce the same temperature rise, controlled by thermometers

The CERN SPL Chopper Structure. A Status Report

In the framework of HIPPI, a study for a Superconducting Proton Linac is being carried out at CERN. An integral part of the medium energy line is the chopper, which has to establish the required time structure of the beam by cutting out selected bunches from the continuous bunch train coming out of the RFQ. Due to the bunch spacing of 2.84 ns a system rise and fall time of 2 ns is required. A slow wave structure matched to the beam speed of 0.08c was chosen as the most promising candidate. This structure was implemented as a meander line printed on a ceramic substrate. The mechanical design as well as technological issues are discussed. Furthermore, the results of comprehensive tests on the prototype are reported

Experimental Electron Cloud Studies in the CERN Proton Synchrotron

Indications for a beam-induced electron cloud build-up are observed since 2000 for the nominal LHC beam in the PS to SPS transfer line and during the last turns before ejection from the PS. A new electron cloud setup was designed, built, and installed in the PS. It contains shielded button-type pickups, a dipole magnet, a vacuum gauge, and a dedicated stripline electrode to experimentally verify the beneficial effect of electron cloud clearing electrodes. During the 2007 run, the electron cloud effect was also clearly observed in the PS and efficient electron cloud suppression has been obtained for negative and positive bias voltages on the clearing electrode. Here, we present electron cloud measurements with different filling patterns and bunch spacings in the PS

The quadrupole resonator: Construction, RF System Field Calculations and First Applications

The quadrupole resonator allows measurement of the RF properties of superconducting (sc) films deposited on disk-shaped metallic substrates. We describe the construction of the apparatus, the brazing and electron-beam welding procedures, the arrangements for compensating mechanical tolerances of samples and for assuring reproducible sample illumination. We explain the special features of the RF sy stem and give the results of field calculations with a 3D cavity code. Finally we present first measurements of Nb on Cu film samples and compare them with calibrations done with a bulk Nb sample

Molecular desorption of stainless steel vacuum chambers irradiated with 4.2 MeV/u lead ions

In preparation for the heavy ion program of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, accumulation and cooling tests with lead ion beams have been performed in the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR). These tests have revealed that due to the unexpected large outgassing of the vacuum system, the dynamic pressure of the ring could not be maintained low enough to reach the required beam intensities. To determine the actions necessary to lower the dynamic pressure rise, an experimental program has been initiated for measuring the molecular desorption yields of stainless steel vacuum chambers by the impact of 4.2 MeV/u lead ions with the charge states +27 and +53. The test chambers were exposed either at grazing or at perpendicular incidence. Different surface treatments (glow-discharges, non-evaporable getter coating) are reported in terms of the molecular desorption yields for H2, CH4, CO, Ar and CO2. Unexpected large values of molecular yields per incident ion up to 2 104 molecules/ion have been observed. The reduction of the ion-induced desorption yield due to continuous bombardment with lead ions (beam cleaning) has been investigated for five different stainless steel vacuum chambers. The implications of these results for the vacuum system of the future Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR) and possible remedies to reduce the vacuum degradation are discussed

Electron Cloud Mitigation by Fast Bunch Compression in the CERN PS

A fast transverse instability has been observed with nominal LHC beams in the CERN Proton Synchrotron (PS) in 2006. The instability develops within less than 1 ms, starting when the bunch length decreases below a threshold of 11.5 ns during the RF procedure to shorten the bunches immediately prior to extraction. An alternative longitudinal beam manipulation, double bunch rotation, has been proposed to compress the bunches from 14 ns to the 4 ns required at extraction within 0.9 ms, saving some 4.5 ms with respect to the present compression scheme. The resultant bunch length is found to be equivalent for both schemes. In addition, electron cloud and vacuum measurements confirm that the development of an electron cloud and the onset of an associated fast pressure rise are delayed with the new compression scheme. Beam dynamics simulations and measurements of the double bunch rotation are presented as well as evidence for its beneficial effect from the electron cloud standpoint

Ion-stimulated gas desorption yields and their dependence on the surface preparation of stainless steel

Ion-induced gas desorption yields were investigated for 4.2 MeV/u lead ions incident on 316 LN stainless steel surfaces. Focussed on a possible application for the Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR) vacuum system, the influence of surface treatments like chemical etching, electropolishing and gold-coating on the desorption yields was studied with accelerator-type vacuum chambers. The surface composition of similar prepared samples was investigated with X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS). Desorption yields for H2, CH4, CO, Ar and CO2, which are of fundamental interest for LEIR and future accelerator applications, are reported as a function of impact angle, ion dose and charge state (+27, +53) of the lead ion beam

Experimental Investigation of Impact-Induced Molecular Desorption by 4.2 MeV/u Pb ions

In preparation for the heavy ion program of the LHC, accumulation and cooling test with lead ion beams have been performed in the LEAR storage ring. These tests have revealed that due to the unexpected, large outgassing of the vacuum system, the dynamic pressure of the ring could not be maintained low enough to reach the required beam intensities. To determine the actions necessary to lower the dynamic pressure rise, an experimental program has been initiated for measuring the molecular desorption yields of stainless steel vacuum chambers by the impact of 4.2 MeV/u lead ions with the charge states +27 and +53. The test chambers were exposed either at grazing or at perpendicular incidence. Different surface treatments are reported in terms of the molecular desorption yields for H2, CH4, CO and CO2. Unpexpected large values of molecular yields per incident ion up to 2x104 molecules/ion have been observed. The implications of these results for the vacuum system of the future ion accumulator ring (LEIR) and possible remedies to reduce the vacuum degradation will be discussed