[en] Experience using laser-wire beam profile measurement to perform transverse beam matching in the SNS superconducting linac is discussed. As the SNS beam power is ramped up to 1 MW, transverse beam matching becomes a concern to control beam loss and residual activation in the linac. In our experiments, however, beam loss is not very sensitive to the matching condition. In addition, we have encountered difficulties in performing a satisfactory transverse matching with the envelope model currently available in the XAL software framework. Offline data analysis from multi-particle tracking simulation shows that the accuracy of the current online model may not be sufficient for modeling the SC linac.

[en] We report on recent enhancements to the physics modules of the ORBIT Code and on progress toward a new implementation of ORBIT using python. We have developed the capability to track particles through general three dimensional electromagnetic field configurations. This facility has proved essential in modeling beam transport through the complicated magnetic field regions of the SNS injection chicane and injection dump line, where beam losses are high. We have also enhanced the acceleration module to provide more flexibility for synchrotron calculations and we have developed alternative multiple Coulomb and Rutherford scattering models for the stripper foil and collimation routines. Finally, progress continues on the migration of the ORBIT physics models to a python user environment. We present the status of this work.

[en] Currently operating at 0.5 MW beam power on target, the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is already the world's most powerful pulsed neutron source. However, we are only one third of the way to full power. As we ramp toward full power, the control of the beam and beam loss in the ring will be critical. In addition to practical considerations, such as choice of operating point, painting scheme, RF bunching, and beam scattering, it may be necessary to understand and mitigate collective effects due to space charge, impedances, and electron clouds. At each stage of the power ramp-up, we use all available resources to understand and to minimize beam losses. From the standpoint of beam dynamics, the losses observed so far under normal operating conditions have not involved collective phenomena. We are now entering the intensity regime in which this may change. In dedicated high intensity beam studies, we have already observed resistive wall, extraction kicker impedance-driven, and electron cloud activities. The analysis and simulation of this data are important ongoing activities at SNS. This paper discusses the status of this work, as well as other considerations necessary to the successful full power operation of SNS.

[en] The ring injection and extraction systems must function as designed in order for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) to achieve its specified performance. In commissioning and early operations we have encountered problems that have been traced to these systems. We experienced high beam losses in and around the injection dump, the rectification of which has necessitated ongoing study and development by a multidisciplinary team. Results already include a number of enhancements of existing features and the addition of new elements and diagnostics. The problem in the extraction region stems from tilted beam distributions observed in the ring-to-target beam transport line (RTBT) and on the target, thus complicating the control of the beam-on-target distribution. This indicates the inadvertent introduction of x-y beam coupling somewhere upstream of the RTBT. The present paper describes computational studies, using the ORBIT Code, addressed at the detailed understanding and solution of these problems.

[en] During the commissioning and early operation of the Spallation Neutron Source, some physics shifts were set aside for high intensity stability studies. Under certain, especially contrived conditions, a number of beam instabilities were induced. These included both electron cloud and ring impedance driven phenomena. We are now applying both simple analytic models and the ORBIT Code to the description and simulation of these observed instabilities.

[en] During one of the high beam intensity runs in SNS, a coasting beam instability was observed in the ring when the beam was stored for 10000 turns. This instability was observed at an intensity of about 12 microcoulombs and was characterized by a frequency spectrum peaking at about 6 MHz. A likely cause of the instability is the impedance of the ring extraction kickers. We carry out here a detailed benchmark of the observed instability, uniting an analysis of the experimental data, a precise ORBIT Code tracking simulation, and a theoretical estimate of the observed beam instability.

[en] The rfsimulator code was developed for the study of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) dual-harmonic ring RF control. It uses time-domain solvers to compute beam-cavity interactions and FFT methods to simulate the time responses of the linear RF system. The important elements of the system considered in the model include beam loading, dynamic cavity detuning, circuit bandwidth, loop delay, proportional-integral controller for feedback and adaptive feed forward, stochastic noise, width-in-turn loop parameter change, beam current fluctuation, and bunch leakage. As the beam power increases, beam loss in the ring goes up and thus precise control of the bunching RF phase and amplitude is required to limit beam loss. The code will help in the development of a functional RF control and in achieving the goal of minimizing beam loss in the accumulator ring.

[en] Beam was first circulated in the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) ring in January 2006. Since that time we have been working to raise the beam power to the design value of 1.4 MW. In general the power ramp up has been proceeding very well, but several issues have been uncovered. Examples include poor transmission of the waste beams in the injection dump beam line, and cross-plane coupling in the ring to target beam transport line. In this paper we will discuss these issues and present an overall status of the ring and the transport beam lines.

[en] The Spallation Neutron Source comprises a 1 GeV, 1.4 MW linear accelerator followed by an accumulator ring and a liquid mercury target. To manage the beam loss caused by the H0 excited states created during the H charge exchange injection into the accumulator ring, the stripper foil is located inside one of the chicane dipoles. This has some interesting consequences that were not fully appreciated until the beam power reached about 840 kW. One consequence was sudden failure of the stripper foil system due to convoy electrons stripped from the incoming H beam, which circled around to strike the foil bracket and cause bracket failure. Another consequence is that convoy electrons can reflect back up from the electron catcher and strike the foil and bracket. An additional contributor to foil system failure is vacuum breakdown due to the charge developed on the foil by secondary electron emission. In this paper we will detail these and other interesting failure mechanisms, and describe the improvements we have made to mitigate them.

[en] The Spallation Neutron Source accelerator systems will deliver a 1.0 GeV, 1.4 MW proton beam to a liquid mercury target for neutron scattering research. The accelerator complex consists of an H^- injector, capable of producing one-ms-long pulses at 60 Hz repetition rate with 38 mA peak current, a 1 GeV linear accelerator, an accumulator ring and associated transport lines. The 2.5 MeV beam from the Front End is accelerated to 87 MeV in the Drift Tube Linac, then to 186 MeV in a Coupled-Cavity Linac and finally to 1 GeV in the Superconducting Linac. With the completion of beam commissioning, the accelerator complex began operation in June 2006 and beam power is being gradually ramped up toward the design goal. Operational experience with the injector and linac will be presented including chopper performance, longitudinal beam dynamics study, and the results of a beam loss study.