• M. P. McCarthy, D. E. Anderson, I. E. Campisi, F. Casagrande, R. I. Cutler, G. W. Dodson, J. Galambos, D. P. Gurd, Y. W. Kang, K.-U. Kasemir, S.-H. Kim, H. Ma, B. W. Riemer, J. P. Schubert, M. P. Stockli
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Increasing the pulse repetition rate (PRR) of the SNS Linac to its designed maximum of 60 Hz to provide 1.4 MW of beam on target is in progress. Operation above 60 Hz in the future to provide beam to a second target is also being considered. Increasing the PRR to 80 Hz would allow the additional pulses to be diverted to a second target. This paper discusses the impact of increasing the PRR on the SNS infrastructure including Radio Frequency (RF) systems and structures, the ion source, cryogenics, controls and the target.

• J. Galambos, A. V. Aleksandrov, C. K. Allen, S. Henderson, T. A. Pelaia, A. P. Shishlo, Y. Zhang
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• P. Chu
  SLAC, Menlo Park, California

The Accelerator Physics group at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) has developed numerous codes to assist in the beam commissioning, tuning, and operation of the SNS Linac. These codes have been key to meeting the beam commissioning milestones. For example, a recently developed code provides for rapid retuning of the superconducting Linac in case of RF stations going offline or coming online. Highlights of these "physics applications" will be presented.

• A. V. Aleksandrov, S. Assadi, W. Blokland, P. Chu, S. M. Cousineau, V. V. Danilov, C. Deibele, J. Galambos, S. Henderson, D.-O. Jeon, M. A. Plum, A. P. Shishlo, M. P. Stockli, Y. Zhang
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

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 86 MeV in the Drift Tube Linac, then to 185 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, transverse emittance evolution along the linac, and the results of a beam loss study.

• I. E. Campisi, S. Assadi, F. Casagrande, M. S. Champion, M. T. Crofford, G. W. Dodson, J. Galambos, M. Giannella, S. Henderson, M. P. Howell, Y. W. Kang, K.-U. Kasemir, S.-H. Kim, Z. Kursun, P. Ladd, H. Ma, D. Stout, W. H. Strong, Y. Zhang
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

The Superconducting Linac at SNS has been operating with beam for almost two years. As the first operational pulsed superconducting linac, many of the aspect of its performance were unknown and unpredictable. A lot of experience has been gathered during the commissioning of its components, during the beam turn on and during operation at increasingly higher beam power. Some cryomodules have been cold for well over two years and have been extensively tested. The operation has been consistently conducted at 4.4 K and 10 and 15 pulses per second, with some cryomodules tested at 30 and 60 pps and some tests performed at 2 K. Careful balance between safe operational limits and the study of conditions, parameters and components that create physical limits has been achieved. This paper presents the experience and the performance of the superconducting cavities and of the associated systems with and without beam.

• Y. Zhang, I. E. Campisi, C. Deibele, J. Galambos, S. Henderson, Y. W. Kang, H. Ma, J. L. Wilson
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Beam phase measurement based on detection of transient beam loading signal in a Superconducting (SC) cavity is utilized to setup the cavity synchronous phase. It has the potential to become a fast tune-up technique for a high intensity SC electron linac, as cavity phase could be determined precisely with only a few beam pulses. The paper introduces a transient detector study in the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) proton linac, and discusses one of the major challenges - stochastic noise in the cavity RF system, which deteriorates the precision and increases the time needed for phase measurement with this technique. We analyze the influence of RF noise to the phase measurement in a simulation study with a beam-cavity model. Beam signal measurement with the cavity Low Level RF (LLRF) system and the initial experiment of prototype detectors are briefly introduced.

• A. Feschenko, L. V. Kravchuk, A. A. Menshov
  RAS/INR, Moscow
• A. V. Aleksandrov, S. Assadi, J. Galambos, S. Henderson
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

SNS Linac utilizes several accelerating structures operating at two frequencies. CCL and SCL operate at 805 MHz while 402.5 MHz is used for RFQ and DTL. Beam transfer from the previous part of the accelerator to the subsequent one requires careful longitudinal matching to improve beam transmission and to minimize beam losses. Longitudinal beam parameters have been investigated with the help of three Bunch Shape Monitors installed in the intersegments of the first CCL Module. The results of bunch shape observations for different accelerator settings are presented. Longitudinal beam emittance has been measured and optimized. Longitudinal beam halo has been evaluated as well.