Piezo Controls For The European XFEL

Abstract

The European X-Ray Free Electron Laser (E-XFEL) accelerator is a pulse machine. The typical time duration of a radio frequency (RF) pulse is about 1.3 ms. The RF power transmitted to the superconducting RF (SCRF) cavity as a set of successive pulses (10 Hz repetition rate), causes strong mechanical stresses inside the cavity. The mechanical deformations of the RF cavity are typically caused by the Lorentz force detuning (LFD). The cavity can be tuned to a 1.3 GHz resonance frequency during the RF pulse using fast piezo tuners. Since the E-XFEL will use around 800 cavities (each cavity with double piezos), a distributed architecture with multi-channel digital and analog control circuits seems to be essential. The most sought-after issue is high-voltage, high-current piezo driving circuit dedicated to multi-channel configuration. The driving electronics should allow a maximum piezo protection against any kind of failure. The careful automation of the piezo tuners control and its demonstration for the high gradient conditions a real challenge. The first demonstration of piezo controls applied for chosen RF stations of the E-XFEL linear accelerator (linac) are presented and obtained results are briefly discussed within this paper