The Accelerator Operations and Technology division at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) is working on designing and implementing an Instrumentation and Controls System (ICS) for the Cathodes and Radio-frequency Interactions in Extremes (CARIE) project. The system will utilize open-source Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) developed for scientific facilities for control, monitoring, and data acquisition. The hardware form factors will include National Instrument’s (NI) cRIO automation controller for industrial-like slow inputs/outputs and NI’s PXIe for high-speed data acquisition for diagnostic signals featuring masked and event-based time window capture. In this paper, we will discuss the reasons that led to the design, the hardware and software design specifics, the challenges that we faced during implementation, including the EPICS device support for NI PXIe, as well as the advantages and drawbacks of our system given the experimental nature of the CARIE project.

This presentation will report on the status of assembling and commissioning of the Cathodes And Radio-frequency Interactions in Extremes (CARIE) C-band high gradient photoinjector test facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The construction of CARIE began in October of 2022. CARIE will house a high gradient copper RF photoinjector with a high quantum-efficiency cathode and produce an ultra-bright 250 pC electron beam accelerated to the energy of 7 MeV. The 50 MW 5.712 GHz Canon klystron will power the facility. The klystron was received and installed in fall of 2023. The WR187 waveguide line brings the power from the klystron into a concrete vault that is rated to provide radiation protection for an electron beam powers up to 20 kW. The first RF injector that was fabricated is made of copper and does not have cathode plugs. This injector will be commissioned to validate operation of the CARIE facility. The second injector that will accommodate cathode plugs and novel photocathodes was designed and will be fabricated. The status of the facility, the designs of the photoinjector and the beamline, and plans for photocathode testing will be presented.

High frequency RF guns cryogenically cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures or lower offer potential for extreme accelerating electric fields exceeding 250 MV/m at the cathode. This can result in enormous increase in the brightness of electron beams obtained from RF guns but can be challenging to integrate high QE photocathodes. This talk will detail the efforts at LANL towards the realization of such a gun and possibly the first field and beam results from a C band room temperature gun.