First experiments with the heidelberg test storage ring TSR

Abstract

The Heidelberg heavy ion test storage ring TSR started operation in May 1988. The lifetimes of the ion beams observed in the first experiments can be explained by interactions with the residual gas. Multiple Coulomb scattering, single Coulomb scattering, electron capture and electron stripping are the relevant processes. Electron cooling of ions as heavy as O 8+ has been observed for the first time. With increasing particle number, the longitudinal Schottky noise spectrum becomes dominated by collective waves for cooled beams, allowing a determination of velocities of sound. After correcting for these coherent distortions fo the Schottky spectrum, the longitudinal beam temperature could be extracted. The observed longitudinal equilibrium beam temperatures increase strongly with the charge of the ions. For a cooled C 6+ beam, temperatures a factor of 120 higher were measured compared to a proton beam with the same particle number. The shrinking of the beam diameter due to electron cooling was observed with detectors which measured the profile of charge-changed ions behind a bending magnet. A strong laser-induced fluorescence was detected when storing metastable 7Li + ions in the ring. Via the Doppler effect a very accurate measurement of the ion velocity profile could be performed. First attempts to observe laser cooling failed, probably due to heating effects from intrabeam scattering and a coupling between longitudinal and transversal motion in the beam. Several experiments under preparation are outlined.