Improvements of a Beam Current Monitor by using a High Tc Current Sensor and SQUID at the RIBF

Abstract

To measure a beam current non-destructively, a conventional DC current transformer (DCCT) has been used at accelerator facilities. However, the current resolution of the DCCT is worse than 1μA. This current resolution is sufficient for electron and proton accelerators in which the beam intensity is high, but it is not sufficient for lower intensity heavy-ion beams. Thus, superconducting technology has been applied to the precise measurement of the beam current. In particular, to measure the DC current of high-energy heavy-ion beams non-destructively at high resolution, a high critical temperature (HTc) superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) beam current monitor (HTc SQUID monitor) has been developed for use in the radioactive isotope beam factory (RIBF) at RIKEN in Japan. Beginning this year, the magnetic shielding system has been greatly reinforced. The measurement resolution is determined by the signal to noise ratio, that is improved by attenuating the external magnetic noise and is mainly produced by the distribution and transmission lines from the high current power supplies. The new strong magnetic shielding system can attenuate the external magnetic noise to 10−10.