Vacuum Technology for Ion Sources

The basic notions of vacuum technology for ion sources are presented, with emphasis on pressure profile calculation and choice of pumping technique. A Monte Carlo code (Molflow+) for the evaluation of conductances and the vacuum-electrical analogy for the calculation of time-dependent pressure variations are introduced. The specific case of the Linac4 H- source is reviewed.Comment: 40 pages, contribution to the CAS-CERN Accelerator School: Ion Sources, Senec, Slovakia, 29 May - 8 June 2012, edited by R. Bailey, CERN-2013-00

Synchrotron Radiation-Induced Desorption from a NEG-Coated Vacuum Chamber

When the whole inner surface of a vacuum chamber is coated with a non-evaporable getter film, very low static and dynamic pressures are expected after activation. In an accelerator environment this could result in a longer beam lifetime, in a lower risk of pressure bumps, and in a lower level of bremsstrahlung radiation due to the beam-gas interactions. To substantiate these favourable characteristics a Ti-Zr-V coated stainless steel chamber has been tested on a dedicated beamline at the ESRF. It is shown that a large reduction of the synchrotron radiation-induced desorption occurs after activation

Operational ocean models in the Adriatic Sea: a skill assessment

International audienceIn the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System project (MFS) sub-regional and regional numerical ocean forecasting systems performance are assessed by mean of model-model and model-data comparison. Three different operational systems have been considered in this study: the Adriatic REGional Model (AREG); the AdriaROMS and the Mediterranean Forecasting System general circulation model (MFS model). AREG and AdriaROMS are regional implementations (with some dedicated variations) of POM (Blumberg and Mellor, 1987) and ROMS (Shchepetkin and McWilliams, 2005) respectively, while MFS model is based on OPA (Madec et al., 1998) code. The assessment has been done by means of standard scores. The data used for operational systems assessment derive from in-situ and remote sensing measurements. In particular a set of CTDs covering the whole western Adriatic, collected in January 2006, one year of SST from space born sensors and six months of buoy data. This allowed to have a full three-dimensional picture of the operational forecasting systems quality during January 2006 and some preliminary considerations on the temporal fluctuation of scores estimated on surface (or near surface) quantities between summer 2005 and summer 2006. In general, the regional models are found to be colder and fresher than observations. They eventually outperform the large scale model in the shallowest locations, as expected. Results on amplitude and phase errors are also much better in locations shallower than 50 m, while degraded in deeper locations, where the models tend to have a higher homogeneity along the vertical column compared to observations. In a basin-wide overview, the two regional models show some dissimilarities in the local displacement of errors, something suggested by the full three-dimensional picture depicted using CTDs, but also confirmed by the comparison with SSTs. In locations where the regional models are mutually correlated, the aggregated mean-square-error has been found to be lower, which is a useful outcome of having several operational systems in the same region

Pumping characteristics of the St707 non-evaporable getter (Zr 70-V 24.6-Fe 5.4 wt%)

The room temperature pumping speeds of the St707 Non-Evaporable Getter (NEG) have been measured both for individual gases and for gas mixtures as a function of the quantities of gas pumped. The interesting feature of this NEG consists in its moderately low activation temperature. Therefore particular attention has been devoted to defining the optimum temperature and duration of the activation process to obtain the highest possible pumping speed in a given practical situation. It has been found that heating at 400° C for about one hour or at 350° C for one day, results in pumping speeds of about 1000 ls-1m-1 for H2 , 2000 ls-1m-1 for CO and 450 ls-1m-1 for N2, values very close to those obtained after activation at the higher temperature of 740° C. The St707 NEG is therefore particularly suitable for passive activation during bakeout of stainless steel vacuum systems, avoiding the need of electrical insulation and feedthroughs which are mandatory when activation is carried out by resistive heating

Operational ocean models in the Adriatic Sea: a skill assessment

In the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS) project, the performance of regional numerical ocean forecasting systems is assessed by means of model-model and model-data comparison. Three different operational systems considered in this study are: the Adriatic REGional Model (AREG); the Adriatic Regional Ocean Modelling System (AdriaROMS) and the Mediterranean Forecasting System General Circulation Model (MFS-GCM). AREG and AdriaROMS are regional implementations (with some dedicated variations) of POM and ROMS, respectively, while MFS-GCM is an OPA based system. The assessment is done through standard scores. In situ and remote sensing data are used to evaluate the system performance. In particular, a set of CTD measurements collected in the whole western Adriatic during January 2006 and one year of satellite derived sea surface temperature measurements (SST) allow to asses a full three-dimensional picture of the operational forecasting systems quality during January 2006 and to draw some preliminary considerations on the temporal fluctuation of scores estimated on surface quantities between summer 2005 and summer 2006. <br><br> The regional systems share a negative bias in simulated temperature and salinity. Nonetheless, they outperform the MFS-GCM in the shallowest locations. Results on amplitude and phase errors are improved in areas shallower than 50 m, while degraded in deeper locations, where major models deficiencies are related to vertical mixing overestimation. In a basin-wide overview, the two regional models show differences in the local displacement of errors. In addition, in locations where the regional models are mutually correlated, the aggregated mean squared error was found to be smaller, that is a useful outcome of having several operational systems in the same region

Carbon coating of the SPS dipole chambers

The Electron Multipacting (EM) phenomenon is a limiting factor for the achievement of high luminosity in accelerators for positively charged particles and for the performance of RF devices. At CERN, the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) must be upgraded in order to feed the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with 25 ns bunch spaced beams. At such small bunch spacing, EM may limit the performance of the SPS and consequently that of the LHC. To mitigate this phenomenon CERN is developing a carbon thin film coating with low Secondary Electron Yield (SEY) to coat the internal walls of the SPS dipoles beam pipes. This paper presents the progresses in the coating technology, the performance of the carbon coatings and the strategy for a large scale production.Comment: 7 pages, contribution to the Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects: ECLOUD'12; 5-9 Jun 2012, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Italy; CERN Yellow Report CERN-2013-002, pp.141-14

Role of the different chemical components in the conditioning process of air exposed copper surfaces

International audienceAs a source of heat load on cryogenic sections, the electron cloud is currently a major limitation to the intensity of some modern particle accelerators such as the LHC and its high luminosity upgrade at CERN. During LHC operation, conditioning of the copper beam pipe surface occurs, leading to a decrease of the cloud intensity. To understand the role of the different chemical surface components of air exposed copper in the electron conditioning process, air exposed copper samples as well as specific model surfaces produced in the laboratory, namely sputter-cleaned copper and carbon-free cuprous oxide (Cu$_2$O), were conditioned by low energy electron irradiation. Conditioning of air exposed copper results in a decrease of the maximum secondary electron yield (SEY) below 1.1. Surface cleaning by electron stimulated desorption and carbon graphitization without increase of the carbon surface concentration are observed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. After conditioning, the maximum SEY of both sputter-cleaned copper and Cu$_2$O remains higher than 1.1. No significant surface modification is observed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy during irradiation for these two surfaces. These results prove that neither an increase of the amount of surface carbon nor oxide modification is responsible for the SEY reduction observed during electron irradiation of air exposed copper. They confirm that graphitic carbon is required to decrease the maximum SEY of copper below 1.1