General-purpose Spectrometer for Vacuum Breakdown Diagnostics for the 12 GHz Test Stand at CERN

Abstract

We discuss a spectrometer to analyze the electrons and ions ejected from a high-gradient CLIC accelerating structure that is installed in the klystron-driven 12 GHz test-stand at CERN. The charged particles escaping the structure provide useful information about the physics of the vacuum breakdown within a single RF pulse. The spectrometer consists of a dipole magnet, a pepper-pot collimator, a fluorescent screen and a fast camera. This enables us to detect both transverse parameters such as the emittance and longitudinal parameters such as the energy distribution of the ejected beams. We can correlate these measurements with e.g. the location of the breakdown inside the structure, by using information from the measured RF powers, giving in that way a complete picture of the vacuum breakdown phenomenon. The spectrometer was installed during Spring 2014 and will be commissioned during Summer 2014.