LANL, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
NERS-UM, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
A recent industrial development has made possible the use of chip-scale radiation detectors by combining a Cerium-doped Lutetium based scintillator crystal optically coupled with a Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) as a detector. At the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), there has been an ongoing effort to determine the location of high voltage breakdowns of the accelerating radio-frequency field inside of an evacuated resonant cavity. Tests were conducted with an array of 8 X-ray detectors with each detector observing a cell of the Drift Tube Linac (DTL) cavity. The array can be moved along the DTL cavity and record X-ray emissions from a section of the cavity and their timing with respect to the RF field quench using a fast 8 channel mixed-signal oscilloscope. This new diagnostic allowed us to map the most energetic emissions along the cavity and reduce the area to investigate. A thorough visual inspection revealed that one of the ion pump grating welds in the suspected area was exposing a small gap and melting copper on both sides. Sparking across this discontinuity is believed to be a source of electrons that drive the high voltage breakdowns in the drift tube cells.
LANL, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
From 2014-2016, the three highest power 201 MHz power amplifier (PA) systems were replaced at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center 100 MeV DTL. The initial DTL cavity provides 4.25 MeV of energy gain and has been powered by a Photonis (RCA) 4616 tetrode driving a 7835 triode PA for over 30 years. It consumes 110 kW of electrical power for tube filaments, power supplies and anode modulator. The modulator is not required with modern tetrode amplifiers. In 2020 we plan to replace this obsolete 6 tube transmitter with a design using a single tetrode PA stage without anode modulator, and a 20 kW solid-state driver stage. This transmitter needs to produce no more than 400 kW, and will use a coaxial circulator. Cooling water demand will reduce from 260 to 70 gal/min of pure water. High voltage DC power comes from the same power supply/capacitor bank that supplied the old system. The old low-level RF controls will be replaced with digital LLRF with learning capability for feedforward control, I/Q signal processing, and PI feedback. All high power components have been assembled in a complete mockup system for extended testing. Installation of the new RF system begins in January of 2020.