We performed a beam test of a new radio frequency quadrupole linac (RFQ III) for the beam current upgrade of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. First, the conditioning of RFQ III was conducted, and after 20 h of conditioning, RFQ III became very stable with a nominal peak power and duty factor of 400 kW and 1.5%, respectively. An off-line beam test was subsequently conducted before installation in the accelerator tunnel. The transmission, transverse emittance, and energy spread of the 50-mA negative hydrogen beam from RFQ III were measured and compared with simulation results. The experiment and simulation results showed good agreement; therefore, we conclude that the performance of RFQ III conforms to its design.

We propose a design for a minimally perturbing diagnostic minichicane, which utilizes optical synchrotron radiation (OSR) generated from magnetic bends in the chicane, to measure the rms horizontal and vertical beam sizes, divergences, emittances, Twiss parameters and energy spread of a relativistic electron beam. The beam is externally focused to a waist at the first bend and the OSR generated there can be used to measure the rms beam size. Subsequent pairs of bends produce far field OSR interferences (OSRI) whose visibility depends on the beam energy spread and the angular divergence. Under proper conditions, one of these two effects will dominate the OSRI visibility from a particular pair of bends and can be used to diagnose the dominant effect. The properties of different configuration of bends in the chicane have been analyzed to provide an optimum diagnostic design for a given set of beam parameters to: (1) provide a sufficient number of OSR interferences to allow a measurement of the fringe visibility; (2) minimize the effect of coherent synchrotron radiation and space charge forces on the particles motion; and (3) minimize the effect of compression on the bunch length as the beam passes through the chicane. A design for the chicane has been produced for application to the FERMI free electron laser facility and by extension to similar high brightness linear accelerators. Such a diagnostic promises to greatly improve control of the electron beam optics with a noninvasive measurement of beam parameters and allow on-line optics matching and feedback.

The well-known envelope instability or the second order even collective mode [I. Hofmann, Phys. Rev. E 57, 4 (1998)] and the fourth order resonance $4\sigma =360°$ due to the nonlinear space charge effect in high intensity beams have been studied previously. A wide stop band around 15° is found in a pure periodic focusing channel. In addition, it is illustrated that the fourth order resonance dominates over the envelope instability and practically replaces it in the stop band [D. Jeon et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 12, 054204 (2009)]. In this paper, for a continuous beam with remarkable space charge, our 2D self-consistent particle-in-cell simulation work with the code topopic shows these two kinds of effects respectively in a periodic focusing defocusing (FD) channel. For a fixed tune depression $\eta =0.8$, a stop band with a width of almost 15° is also demonstrated. Moreover, it is confirmed that analytical results of the rms envelope instability diagram are a valid tool to interpret the width of the stop band. Emittance growth rates in stop band are also well explained. It is found that, for a nearly rms matched beam, the emittance growth in the stop band is almost proportional to the saturation time of the nonlinear instability of the envelope, which happens in a quick manner and takes only a few FD cells. In contrast, the fourth order resonance is independent of rms matching and will be accompanied by beam evolution as “a long term effect” once the related mechanism is excited.

FERMI is the first user facility based upon an externally seeded free-electron laser (FEL) and was designed to deliver high quality, transversely and longitudinally coherent radiation pulses in the extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray spectral regimes. The FERMI linear accelerator includes a laser heater to control the longitudinal microbunching instability, which otherwise is expected to degrade the quality of the high brightness electron beam sufficiently to reduce the FEL output intensity and spectral brightness. In this paper, we present the results of the FERMI laser heater commissioning. For the first time, we show that optimizing the electron beam heating at an upstream location (beam energy, 100 MeV) leads to a reduction of the incoherent energy spread at the linac exit (beam energy, 1.2 GeV). We also discuss some of the positive effects of such heating upon the emission of coherent optical transition radiation and the FEL output intensity.

The electromagnetic field of a bunch moving in the presence of a plane grid composed of thin parallel wires is considered by using the averaged boundary conditions method. Two different cases of motion are examined. In the first one, the bunch moves at a constant distance from the grid orthogonally to the wires. The excited surface wave is presented in the form of a spectral integral for a thin bunch with an arbitrary longitudinal profile. The wave propagates along the wires and does not decay with distance (if dissipation is negligible). Energy losses of the bunch over a unit path are obtained. In the second case, the bunch orthogonally crosses the wire grid. The volume and surface waves are separately analyzed. Properties of the spectral angular density of energy of volume radiation in the far-field zone are described. The energy losses due to the volume and surface radiation are determined. It is demonstrated that the structure of the surface waves in both cases allows determination of the length of the bunch.

When a low energy electron bunch ($\sim 20\mathrm{MeV}$) crosses from top of a high energy bunch (e.g., 3 GeV) at an angle (e.g., 45°), the Coulomb force exerted on the high energy bunch by the low energy bunch will kick a very short ($\sim 150\mathrm{fs}$) slice from the core of the high energy bunch. The slice of electron bunch can generate ultrashort x-ray pulse. In this paper, we will give analytical expressions about the angular kicks dependence on the crossing angle by assuming a Gaussian distribution for the low energy bunch. Applying the analytical results to the storage ring bunch in NSLS-II [1], we will discuss the optimized parameters of the electron beam slicing system in order to obtain a very short slice bunch and a sufficient separation between the slice and the core bunch.

There are currently several proposals to build a high-luminosity electron-ion collider, to study the spin structure of matter and measure parton densities in heavy nuclei, and to search for gluon saturation and new phenomena like the colored glass condensate. These measurements require operation with heavy nuclei. We calculate the cross sections for two important processes that will affect accelerator and detector operations: bound-free pair production and Coulomb excitation of the nuclei. Both of these reactions have large cross sections, 28–56 mb, which can lead to beam ion losses, produce beams of particles with altered charge:mass ratio, and produce a large flux of neutrons in zero degree calorimeters. The loss of beam particles limits the sustainable electron-ion luminosity to levels of several times ${10}^{32}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2/\mathrm{s}$.

A laser-driven particle accelerator based on plasmonic nanoantennas is proposed and analyzed. The concept utilizes the enhancement and localization of the electric field by nanoantennas to maximize the acceleration gradient and to overcome potential metallic losses. The structure is optimized for accelerating relativistic particles using a femtosecond laser source operating at 800 nm and is shown to support the bandwidth of ultrashort laser pulses (up to 16 fs) while providing a high acceleration gradient potentially reaching $11.6\mathrm{GV}/\mathrm{m}$.

Plasma-based surface modification of niobium is a promising alternative to wet etching of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. We have demonstrated surface layer removal in an asymmetric nonplanar geometry, using a simple cylindrical cavity. The etching rate is highly correlated with the shape of the inner electrode, radio-frequency (rf) circuit elements, gas pressure, rf power, chlorine concentration in the ${\mathrm{Cl}}_2/\mathrm{Ar}$ gas mixtures, residence time of reactive species, and temperature of the cavity. Using variable radius cylindrical electrodes, large-surface ring-shaped samples, and dc bias in the external circuit, we have measured substantial average etching rates and outlined the possibility of optimizing plasma properties with respect to maximum surface processing effect.

Thanks to their compactness and unique properties, laser-wakefield accelerators are currently considered for several innovative applications. However, many of these applications—and especially those that require beam transport—are hindered by the large divergence of laser-accelerated beams. Here we propose a collimating concept that relies on the strong radial electric field of the laser-wakefield to reduce this divergence. This concept utilizes an additional gas jet, placed after the laser-wakefield accelerator. When the laser pulse propagates through this additional gas jet, it drives a wakefield which can refocus the trailing electron bunch. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that this approach can reduce the divergence by at least a factor of 3 for realistic electron bunches.

Presented are voltage measurements taken near the load region on the $Z$ pulsed-power accelerator using an inductive voltage monitor (IVM). Specifically, the IVM was connected to, and thus monitored the voltage at, the bottom level of the accelerator’s vacuum double post-hole convolute. Additional voltage and current measurements were taken at the accelerator’s vacuum-insulator stack (at a radius of 1.6 m) by using standard $D$-dot and $B$-dot probes, respectively. During postprocessing, the measurements taken at the stack were translated to the location of the IVM measurements by using a lossless propagation model of the $Z$ accelerator’s magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITLs) and a lumped inductor model of the vacuum post-hole convolute. Across a wide variety of experiments conducted on the $Z$ accelerator, the voltage histories obtained from the IVM and the lossless propagation technique agree well in overall shape and magnitude. However, large-amplitude, high-frequency oscillations are more pronounced in the IVM records. It is unclear whether these larger oscillations represent true voltage oscillations at the convolute or if they are due to noise pickup and/or transit-time effects and other resonant modes in the IVM. Results using a transit-time-correction technique and Fourier analysis support the latter. Regardless of which interpretation is correct, both true voltage oscillations and the excitement of resonant modes could be the result of transient electrical breakdowns in the post-hole convolute, though more information is required to determine definitively if such breakdowns occurred. Despite the larger oscillations in the IVM records, the general agreement found between the lossless propagation results and the results of the IVM shows that large voltages are transmitted efficiently through the MITLs on $Z$. These results are complementary to previous studies [R. D. McBride et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 13, 120401 (2010)] that showed efficient transmission of large currents through the MITLs on $Z$. Taken together, the two studies demonstrate the overall efficient delivery of very large electrical powers through the MITLs on $Z$.

The properties of the neutrino provide a unique window on physics beyond that described by the standard model. The study of subleading effects in neutrino oscillations, and the race to discover CP-invariance violation in the lepton sector, has begun with the recent discovery that ${\theta }_{13}>0$. The measured value of ${\theta }_{13}$ is large, emphasizing the need for a facility at which the systematic uncertainties can be reduced to the percent level. The neutrino factory, in which intense neutrino beams are produced from the decay of muons, has been shown to outperform all realistic alternatives and to be capable of making measurements of the requisite precision. Its unique discovery potential arises from the fact that only at the neutrino factory is it practical to produce high-energy electron (anti)neutrino beams of the required intensity. This paper presents the conceptual design of the neutrino factory accelerator facility developed by the European Commission Framework Programme 7 $\mathrm{EURO}\nu$ Design Study consortium. $\mathrm{EURO}\nu$ coordinated the European contributions to the International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS-NF) collaboration. The $\mathrm{EURO}\nu$ baseline accelerator facility will provide $10^{21}$ muon decays per year from 12.6 GeV stored muon beams serving a single neutrino detector situated at a source-detector distance of between 1 500 km and 2 500 km. A suite of near detectors will allow definitive neutrino-scattering experiments to be performed.

The electron cloud buildup and interaction with a train of relativistic, short proton bunches is studied using particle-in-cell codes. The simulation models describe the electron generation at the beam pipe wall as well as the wakefield behind the bunches. The study focuses on the space charge limited (saturated) cloud profile between the bunches and on the incoherent tune spread caused by the interaction of the saturated cloud with individual bunches. Analytical expressions describing the pinch of a saturated electron cloud are derived and compared to simulation results.

When a beam travels near collimator jaws, it gets an energy loss and a transverse kick due to the backreaction of the beam field diffracted from the jaws. The effect becomes very important for an intense short bunch when a tight collimation of the background beam halo is required. In the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC a collimation system is used to protect the undulators from radiation due to particles in the beam halo. The halo is most likely formed from gun dark current or dark current in some of the accelerating sections. However, collimators are also responsible for the generation of wake fields. The wake field effect from the collimators not only brings an additional energy jitter and change in the trajectory of the beam, but it also rotates the beam on the phase plane, which consequently leads to a degradation of the performance of the Free Electron Laser at the Linac Coherent Light Source. In this paper, we describe a model of the wake field radiation in the SLAC linac collimators. We use the results of a numerical simulation to illustrate the model. Based on the model, we derive simple formulas for the bunch energy loss and the average kick. We also present results from experimental measurements that confirm our model.