Crystal collimation for LHC

Future upgrades of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) may demand improved cleaning performance of its collimation system. Very efficient collimation is required during regular operations at high intensities, because even a small amount of energy deposited on superconducting magnets can cause an abrupt loss of superconducting conditions (quench). The present collimation system has accomplished its tasks during the LHC Run I very well, where no quench with circulating beam took place with up to 150 MJ of stored energy at 4 TeV. On the other hand, uncertainty remains on the performance at the design energy of 7 TeV and with 360 MJ of stored energy. In particular, a further increase up to about 700 MJ is expected for the high luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC), where improved cleaning performance may be needed together with a reduction of collimator impedance. The possibility to use a crystal-based collimation system represents an option for improving both cleaning performance and impedance compared to the present system. A bent crystal can in theory replace primary collimators and steer all halo particles onto one single absorber, providing better cleaning with reduced impedance than the present multi-stage collimation system, which is based on massive amorphous blocks of material that surround the beam. Although promising results on the principle of crystal collimation were obtained during experimental tests at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), feasibility studies at the LHC are mandatory before relying on this approach for future upgrades. The main goal of this Ph.D. thesis is the design of an optimised prototype crystal collimation system for these tests in the LHC, which has been installed during April 2014.Open Acces

An off-momentum beam loss feedback controller and graphical user interface for the LHC

During LHC operation, a campaign to validate the configuration of the LHC collimation system is conducted every few months. This is performed by means of loss maps, where specific beam losses are voluntarily generated with the resulting loss patterns compared to expectations. The LHC collimators have to protect the machine from both betatron and off-momentum losses. In order to validate the off-momentum protection, beam losses are generated by shifting the RF frequency using a low intensity beam. This is a delicate process that, in the past, often led to the beam being dumped due to excessive losses. To avoid this, a feed-back system based on the100 Hz data stream from the LHC Beam Loss system has been implemented. When given a target RF frequency, the feedback system approaches this frequency in steps while monitoring the losses until the selected loss pattern conditions are reached, so avoiding the excessive losses that lead to a beam dump. This paper will describe the LHC off-momentum beam loss feedback system and the results achieved.peer-reviewe

HL-LHC layout for fixed-target experiments in ALICE based on crystal-assisted beam halo splitting

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator colliding beams of protons and lead ions at energies up to 7 ZTeV, Z is the atomic number. ALICE is one of the detector experiments optimised for heavy-ion collisions. A fixed-target experiment in ALICE is being considered to collide a portion of the beam halo, split using a bent crystal inserted in the transverse hierarchy of the LHC collimation system, with an internal target placed a few meters upstream of the existing detector. This study is carried out as a part of the Physics Beyond Collider effort at CERN. Fixed-target collisions offer many physics opportunities related to hadronic matter and the quark-gluon plasma to extend the research potential of the CERN accelerator complex. Production of physics events depends on the particle flux on target. The machine layout for the fixed-target experiment is developed to provide a flux of particles on the target high enough to exploit the full capabilities of the ALICE detector acquisition system. This paper summarises the fixed-target layout consisting of the crystal assembly, the target and downstream absorbers. We discuss the conceptual integration of these elements within the LHC ring, the impact on ring losses, and expected performance in terms of particle flux on target

Probing LHC halo dynamics using collimator loss rates at 6.5 TeV

Halo diffusion measurements at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) were conducted with beams for physics at 6.5 TeV by means of collimator scans, carried out between 2016 and 2018. From the time evolution of the beam losses recorded during a collimator scan, in which collimator jaws are moved in steps toward the beam core cutting beam tails, one can extract information on the halo diffusion and its population as a function of the transverse amplitude. In this paper, results of the first scans performed at different beam intensities for both planes and both beams using the primary collimators of the betatron cleaning system are presented. The scans were performed with squeezed optics and colliding beams after a few hours of regular physics production, during so-called end-of-fill measurements. Beam losses are measured with ionization chambers close to the collimators, which enable 1 and 100 Hz acquisitions, as well as diamond beam loss monitors, which enable turn-by-turn and bunch-by-bunch acquisitions. Parametric fits of a diffusion model are applied to the time profile of losses, for both total and individual bunch intensity. The analysis of the measurements performed in various conditions was used to estimate the diffusion coefficient as a function of the transverse amplitude and the population of LHC beam tails.peer-reviewe

Final implementation, commissioning, and performance of embedded collimator beam position monitors in the Large Hadron Collider

During Long Shutdown 1, 18 Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collimators were replaced with a new design, in which beam position monitor (BPM) pick-up buttons are embedded in the collimator jaws. The BPMs provide a direct measurement of the beam orbit at the collimators, and therefore can be used to align the collimators more quickly than using the standard technique which relies on feedback from beam losses. Online orbit measurements also allow for reducing operational margins in the collimation hierarchy placed specifically to cater for unknown orbit drifts, therefore decreasing the β and increasing the luminosity reach of the LHC. In this paper, the results from the commissioning of the embedded BPMs in the LHC are presented. The data acquisition and control software architectures are reviewed. A comparison with the standard alignment technique is provided, together with a fill-to-fill analysis of the measured orbit in different machine modes, which will also be used to determine suitable beam interlocks for a tighter collimation hierarchy.peer-reviewe

Improved aperture measurements at the LHC and results from their application in 2015

A good knowledge of the available aperture in the LHC is essential for a safe operation due to the risk of magnet quenches or even damage in case of uncontrolled beam losses. Experimental validations of the available aperture are therefore crucial and were in the past carried out by either a collimator scan combined with beam excitations or through the use of local orbit bumps. In this paper, we show a first comparison of these methods in the same machine configuration, as well as a new very fast method based on a beam-based collimator alignment and a new faster variant of the collimator scan method. The methods are applied to the LHC operational configuration for 2015 at injection and with squeezed beams and the measured apertures are presented.peer-reviewe

Prospects to apply machine learning to optimize the operation of the crystal collimation system at the LHC

Crystal collimation relies on the use of bent crystals to coherently deflect halo particles onto dedicated collimator absorbers. This scheme is planned to be used at the LHC to improve the betatron cleaning efficiency with high-intensity ion beams. Only particles with impinging angles below 2.5 urad relative to the crystalline planes can be efficiently channeled at the LHC nominal top energy of 7 Z TeV. For this reason, crystals must be kept in optimal alignment with respect to the circulating beam envelope to maximize the efficiency of the channeling process. Given the small angular acceptance, achieving optimal channeling conditions is particularly challenging. Furthermore, the different phases of the LHC operational cycle involve important dynamic changes of the local orbit and optics, requiring an optimized control of position and angle of the crystals relative to the beam. To this end, the possibility to apply machine learning to the alignment of the crystals, in a dedicated setup and in standard operation, is considered. In this paper, possible solutions for automatic adaptation to the changing beam parameters are highlighted and plans for the LHC ion runs starting in 2022 are discussed.peer-reviewe

Beam losses, lifetime and collimator hierarchy

The aim of the LHC collimation system is to ensure a safe machine operation; it provides the LHC with passive protection and minimises the risk of magnet quenches induced by beam losses. In 2017, the LHC collimation system confirmed its excellent performance, with no magnet quenches due to losses from circulating beams while accommodating changes in machine configurations. The system availability in 2017 was also very good. The present work reviews key elements of the 2017 operation, from initial commissioning with beam to beam losses, lifetime and collimator hierarchypeer-reviewe

Cleaning inefficiency of the LHC collimation system during the energy ramp : simulations and measurements

The cleaning inefficiency of the LHC collimation system for the operational scenarios in 2010-12 has already been studied in detail at injection and top energy (450 GeV and 4 TeV respectively). In this paper, results are presented for the cleaning inefficiency at intermediate energies, simulated using the SixTrack code. The first comparisons with measured provoked losses are discussed. This study helps in benchmarking the energy dependence of the simulated inefficiency and is thus important for the extrapolation to future operation at higher energies.peer-reviewe

Roman Pot insertions in high-intensity beams for the CT-PPS project at LHC

In 2015 the Roman Pots (RPs) of the CMS-TOTEM Precision Proton Spectrometer in the LHC Interaction Region 5 successfully approached the 6.5 TeV beam in regular fills (β∗ = 0.8 m) to distances of 25 beam width sigmas at all intensity steps reached during that running season, i.e. up to 2244 bunches producing a luminosity of 4.8 × 1033 cm-2s-1. Given that earlier insertion tests at low β∗ before the Long Shutdown 1 (LS1) had suffered from impedance heating at the RPs, this first-time achievement proves the effectiveness of the impedance mitigation actions undertaken in LS1 and represents an important milestone towards physics production at distances as small as 15 sigmas. This contribution reviews the diagnostic measurements assessing debris showers and beam impedance effects, i.e. the data from Beam Loss Monitors, beam vacuum gauges and temperature sensors. The dependences of the observables on luminosity or beam current are shown. Extrapolations to higher luminosities and smaller distances to the beam do not indicate any fundamental problems. Finally the plans for 2016 are outlined.ALBA-Cells,AS,CEA Saclay,CERN,Cockcroft Institute,et al.peer-reviewe