Real time control of RF fields using a MicroTCA.4 based LLRF system at FLASH

Abstract

The Free Electron Laser in Hamburg (FLASH) is a large scale user facility, providing highly stable and brilliant laser pulses down to a wavelength of 4.1 nm. Essential for stable and reproducible photon beam is the precision control of the electron bunch parameters. The acceleration principle of the electron bunches at FLASH is based on superconducting RF technology (SRF), in which the RF fields are controlled by a digital low level RF (LLRF) system. This system has been recently upgraded to the Micro Telecommunication Computing Architecture (MicroTCA.4) to improve the performance of the field regulation. This paper presents the first measurements and operation experiences using this new electronic crate standard at a large scale research facility. RF field regulation is carried out by real time fast digital processing on several boards in a MicroTCA.4 crate, and slow automation routines running on a dual core i7 front-end CPU. Scalability and modularity of this system is one of the key parameters to meet the next steps, namely being the platform standard for the European X-ray free electron laser currently build at DESY.