No Arabic abstract
The magnetron H- ion sources developed in the 1970s currently in operation at Fermilab provide beam to the rest of the accelerator complex. A series of modifications to these sources have been tested in a dedicated offline test stand with the aim of improving different operational issues. The solenoid type gas valve was tested as an alternative to the piezoelectric gas valve in order to avoid its temperature dependence. A new cesium oven was designed and tested in order to avoid glass pieces that were present with the previous oven, improve thermal insulation and fine tune its temperature. A current-regulated arc modulator was developed to run the ion source at a constant arc current, providing very stable beam outputs during operations. In order to reduce beam noise, the addition of small amounts of N2 gas was explored, as well as testing different cathode shapes with increasing plasma volume. This paper summarizes the studies and modifications done in the source over the last three years with the aim of improving its stability, reliability and overall performance.
As the main $H^{-}$ ion source for the accelerator complex, magnetron ion sources have been used at Fermilab since the 1970s. At the offline test stand, new R&D is carried out to develop and upgrade the present magnetron-type sources of $H^{-}$ ions of up to 80 mA and 35 keV beam energy in the context of the Proton Improvement Plan. The aim of this plan is to provide high-power proton beams for the experiments at FNAL. In order to reduce the amount of tuning and monitoring of these ion sources, a new electronic system consisting of a current-regulated arc discharge modulator allow the ion source to run at a constant arc current for improved beam output and operation. A solenoid-type gas valve feeds $H_{2}$ gas into the source precisely and independently of ambient temperature. This summary will cover several studies and design changes that have been tested and will eventually be implemented on the operational magnetron sources at Fermilab. Innovative results for this type of ion source include cathode geometries, solenoid gas valves, current controlled arc pulser, cesium boiler redesign, gas mixtures of hydrogen and nitrogen, and duty factor reduction, with the aim to improve source lifetime, stability, and reducing the amount of tuning needed. In this summary, I will highlight the advances made in ion sources at Fermilab and will outline the directions of the continuing R&D effort.
IsoDAR is an experiment under development to search for sterile neutrinos using the isotope Decay-At-Rest (DAR) production mechanism, where protons impinging on $^9$Be create neutrons which capture on $^7$Li which then beta-decays producing $bar{ u}_e$. As this will be an isotropic source of $bar{ u}_e$, the primary driver current must be large (10 mA cw) for IsoDAR to have sufficient statistics to be conclusive within 5 years of running. H$_2^+$ was chosen as primary ion to overcome some of the space-charge limitations during low energy beam transport and injection into a compact cyclotron. The H$_2^+$ will be stripped into protons before the target. At MIT, a multicusp ion source (MIST-1) was designed and built to produce a high intensity beam with a high H$_2^+$ fraction. MIST-1 is now operational at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT and under commissioning.
CW magnetrons, developed for industrial heaters, but driven by an injection-locking signal were suggested to power Superconducting RF (SRF) cavities due to higher efficiency and lower cost of generated RF power per Watt than traditionally used RF sources (klystrons, IOTs, solid-state amplifiers). When the magnetrons are intended to feed Room Temperature (RT) cavities, the injected phase or frequency locking signal may provide required phase or frequency stability of the accelerating field. However, when the magnetron RF sources are intended to feed high Q-factor SRF cavities, the sources must be controlled in phase and power in a wide bandwidth to compensate parasitic phase and amplitude modulations caused by microphonics. In dependence on parameters of magnetron and the injection-locking signal one can choose regime most suitable for feeding SRF cavities, enabling magnetron almost coherent oscillation at the wide bandwidth of control. A novel approach considering magnetrons as quasi-coherent or coherent RF generators enables choosing the tube parameters and operation most suitable for various SRF accelerators.
Ion extraction from DECRIS-PM source is simulated by using initial distributions of ions at the extraction aperture obtained with NAM-ECRIS code. Three-dimensional calculations of plasma emissive surface are done and ions are traced in the extraction region. The ion beam profiles show strong aberrations due to shape of plasma meniscus; hollow beam features are reproduced, as well as changes in profiles for different focusing conditions.
A novel concept of high-power transmitters utilizing the Continuous Wave (CW) magnetrons, frequency-locked by phase-modulated signals has been proposed to compensate energy losses caused by Synchrotron Radiation (SR) in the electron ring of the MEIC facility. At operating frequency of about 750 MHz the SR losses are ~2 MW. They can be compensated by some number of Superconducting RF (SRF) cavities at the feeding power of about 100-200 kW per cavity. A high-power CW transmitters, based on magnetrons, frequency-locked by phase-modulated signal, allowing a wide-band control in phase and power, and associated with a wide-band closed feedback loop are proposed to feed the SRF cavities to compensate the SR losses of the electron beam in the MEIC collider electron ring.