Accelerator and beam physics challenges in support of FRIB experiments

Abstract

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a major nuclear physics facility for research with fast, stopped and reaccelerated rare isotope beams, started operation in May 2022. Since then, a dozen nuclear physics experiments have been successfully accomplished. Typically, the experiments with rare isotope beams last a week or two. Each experiment requires a different primary beam species and energies. Shortening the accelerator and fragment separator setup time is critical to meet the demands of the FRIB Users community. Currently, the primary focus in the linac is reducing the accelerator setup time and beam power ramp-up. Many physics applications have been developed and used to set up the accelerator and beamlines. The simultaneous acceleration of multiple charge states of heavy ion beams is routinely used to minimize the beam power deposition on the charge selector slits after the stripper. This paper discusses the challenges of linac tune development for the acceleration of various ion species.