Commissioning of X-LAB: a very high-capacity X-band RF test stand facility at the University of Melbourne

Abstract

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) beam-based acceleration baseline uses high-gradient travelling wave accelerating structures at a frequency of 12 GHz. In order to prove the performance of these structures at high peak power and short pulse width RF, two klystron-based test facilities will be put in operation this year. The first Southern Hemisphere X-band Laboratory for Accelerators and Beams (X-LAB) is currently being commissioned at the University of Melbourne, it will house half of the CERN X-band test stand XBOX3, which has been renamed Mel-BOX. Like XBOX3, Mel-BOX employs a novel means of combining high average power but relatively low peak power (6 MW) klystron units to direct power to two testing slots with a repetition rate of up to 400 Hz. As well as the repetition rate, peak power, pulse length and pulse shape can be customised to fit the testing requirements. This novel means of producing high power and high repetition RF pulses can eventually be used for many other applications where multiple test slots are required. This proceedings focuses on the integration and 1st commissioning of Mel-BOX with short pulses. There are also plans for it to form the basis for developing a compact accelerator for medical or university applications, such as radiotherapy and compact light sources [1].