Extra Low ENergy Antiproton Ring Research Articles

Ultra-thin polymer foil cryogenic window for antiproton deceleration and storage.

We present the design and characterization of a cryogenic window based on an ultra-thin aluminized biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate foil at T < 10 K, which can withstand a pressure difference larger than 1 bar at a leak rate <1×10-9 mbar l/s. Its thickness of ∼1.7 μm makes it transparent to various types of particles over a broad energy range. To optimize the transfer of 100keV antiprotons through the window, we tested the degrading properties of different aluminum coated polymer foils of thicknesses between 900 and 2160nm, concluding that 1760nm foil decelerates antiprotons to an average energy of 5keV. We have also explicitly studied the permeation as a function of coating thickness and temperature and have performed extensive thermal and mechanical endurance and stress tests. Our final design integrated into the experiment has an effective open surface consisting of seven holes with a diameter of 1mm and will transmit up to 2.5% of the injected 100keV antiproton beam delivered by the Antiproton Decelerator and Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring facility of CERN.

Stability and lifetime study of carbon nanotubes as cold electron field emitters for electron cooling in the CERN extra low energy antiproton ring

Electron cooling is a fundamental process to guarantee the beam quality in low energy antimatter facilities. In extra low energy antiproton, the electron cooler reduces the emittance blowup of the antiproton beam and thus delivers a focused and bright beam to the experiments at the unprecedentedly low kinetic energy of 100 keV. In order to achieve a cold beam at this low energy, the electron gun of the cooler must emit a monoenergetic and relatively intense electron beam. An optimization of the extra low energy antiproton electron cooler gun involving a cold cathode is studied, with the aim of investigating the feasibility of using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as cold electron field emitters. CNTs are considered among the most promising field emitting material. However, stability data for emission operation over hundreds of hours, as well as lifetime and conditioning process studies to ensure optimal performance, are still incomplete or missing, especially if the purpose is to use them in operation in a machine such as extra low energy antiproton. This manuscript reports experiments that characterize these properties and ascertain whether CNTs are reliable enough to be used as cold electron field emitters for many hundreds of hours.

Carbon Nanotubes as Cold Electron Field Emitters for Electron Cooling in the CERN Extra Low Energy Antiproton (ELENA) Ring

Carbon Nanotubes as Cold Electron Field Emitters for Electron Cooling in the CERN Extra Low Energy Antiproton (ELENA) Ring

Error characterization and calibration of real-time magnetic field measurement systems

In synchrotrons at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), magnetic measurement systems known as B-trains measure the magnetic field in the main bending magnets in real-time, and transmit this signal for the control of the synchrotron’s RF accelerating cavities, magnet power converter and beam monitoring systems. This work presents an assessment of the capabilities and performance of the new FIRESTORM (Field In REal-time STreaming from Online Reference Magnets) system as part of the first phase of commissioning. A short summary of the architecture of the measurement system is provided first, followed by the definition of an error model which can be used to characterize random and systematic errors separately. We present a procedure for the metrological calibration and qualification of the B-trains, including an experimental evaluation of the different error sources for the four new systems being commissioned in the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB), Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR), Proton Synchrotron (PS) and the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton (ELENA) ring. In particular, we discuss a method to calibrate systematic gain and offset errors based on the RF cavity frequency offset needed to center the beam on its theoretical orbit.

Cold and stable antimatter for fundamental physics.

The field of cold antimatter physics has rapidly developed in the last 20 years, overlapping with the period of the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) at CERN. The central subjects are CPT symmetry tests and Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) tests. Various groundbreaking techniques have been developed and are still in progress such as to cool antiprotons and positrons down to extremely low temperature, to manipulate antihydrogen atoms, to construct extremely high-precision Penning traps, etc. The precisions of the antiproton and proton magnetic moments have improved by six orders of magnitude, and also laser spectroscopy of antihydrogen has been realized and reached a relative precision of 2 × 10−12 during the AD time. Antiprotonic helium laser spectroscopy, which started during the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) time, has reached a relative precision of 8 × 10−10. Three collaborations joined the WEP tests inventing various unique approaches. An additional new post-decelerator, Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA), has been constructed and will be ready in 2021, which will provide 10–100 times more cold antiprotons to each experiment. A new era of the cold antimatter physics will emerge soon including the transport of antiprotons to other facilities.

Novel transverse emittance measurements for electron cooling characterization

The extra low energy antiproton ring (ELENA) finished commissioning before the start of CERN's second long shutdown in December 2018, successfully providing beams to a new experimental zone. In 2021, ELENA will begin distributing cooled 100 keV antiproton beams to all antimatter experiments. To counteract beam blowup due to deceleration, ELENA will employ the use of an electron cooler. Measurements under similar circumstances, such as at the antiproton decelerator at CERN, have shown electron cooling causing non-Gaussian beam profiles. This effect, combined with nonzero dispersion at the location of the scraper in ELENA, presents new challenges in the use of ELENA's scraper to determine the emittance during the deceleration cycle. Two new scraper algorithms have been developed and used to show the first evidence of significant electron cooling in ELENA, at 650 and 100 keV energy plateaus. The algorithms are capable of estimating the longitudinal momentum spread of the beams and accurately determining emittances for non-Gaussian beams in dispersive regions. Additionally, utilizing combinations of measurements from opposing scraper blades, additional information on the beam's evolution is presented, suggesting a correlation between the emittance and longitudinal momentum offset of individual particles. Finally, considerations for further studies in ELENA and similar machines are presented.

Integrator Drift Compensation of Magnetic Flux Transducers by Feed-Forward Correction.

Integrator drift is a problem strongly felt in different measurement fields, often detrimental even for short-term applications. An analytical method for modelling and feed-forward correcting drift in magnetic flux measurements was developed analytically and tested experimentally. A case study is reported on the proof of principle as a novel kind of quasi-DC field marker of the 5-ppm Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) transducer Metrolab PT2026, applied to the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton (ELENA) ring and the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB) at CERN. In some particle accelerators, such as in ELENA, the resulting feed-forward correction guarantees 1 T field stability over 120-s long magnetic cycle on a plateau of 50 mT, reducing by three orders of magnitude the field error caused by the integrator drift with respect to the state of the art.

A Magnetic Measurement Model for Real-Time Control of Synchrotrons

In this paper, we present a measurement model for estimating the magnetic field of a synchrotron-type particle accelerator, based on sensors installed in a reference magnet. The model combines the calibration of the individual sensors with the experimental characterization of the magnets to infer, in absolute terms, the value of the average field in the ring, as needed for the real-time feedback control of the accelerator. Implementation of this model at the extra low energy antiproton (ELENA) ring at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is used as a case study. We describe first the measurement setup and method, followed by the detailed definition of the model, along with its parameters and an evaluation of their value and uncertainty. Next, we assess the combined uncertainty of the whole measurement chain. Finally, we discuss the results obtained so far during the machine commissioning phase and outline our plans for future improvement.

Recent progress of laser spectroscopy experiments on antiprotonic helium.

The Atomic Spectroscopy and Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons (ASACUSA) collaboration is currently carrying out laser spectroscopy experiments on antiprotonic helium [Formula: see text] atoms at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator facility. Two-photon spectroscopic techniques have been employed to reduce the Doppler width of the measured [Formula: see text] resonance lines, and determine the atomic transition frequencies to a fractional precision of 2.3-5 parts in 109 More recently, single-photon spectroscopy of buffer-gas cooled [Formula: see text] has reached a similar precision. By comparing the results with three-body quantum electrodynamics calculations, the antiproton-to-electron mass ratio was determined as [Formula: see text], which agrees with the known proton-to-electron mass ratio with a precision of 8×10-10 The high-quality antiproton beam provided by the future Extra Low Energy Antiproton Ring (ELENA) facility should enable further improvements in the experimental precision.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Antiproton physics in the ELENA era'.

The ELENA facility

The CERN Antiproton Decelerator (AD) provides antiproton beams with a kinetic energy of 5.3 MeV to an active user community. The experiments would profit from a lower beam energy, but this extraction energy is the lowest one possible under good conditions with the given circumference of the AD. The Extra Low Energy Antiproton ring (ELENA) is a small synchrotron with a circumference a factor of 6 smaller than the AD to further decelerate antiprotons from the AD from 5.3 MeV to 100 keV. Controlled deceleration in a synchrotron equipped with an electron cooler to reduce emittances in all three planes will allow the existing AD experiments to increase substantially their antiproton capture efficiencies and render new experiments possible. ELENA ring commissioning is taking place at present and first beams to a new experiment installed in a new experimental area are foreseen in 2017. The transfer lines from ELENA to existing experiments in the old experimental area will be installed during CERN Long Shutdown 2 (LS2) in 2019 and 2020. The status of the project and ring commissioning will be reported.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Antiproton physics in the ELENA era'.

Precision laser spectroscopy experiments on antiprotonic helium

At CERN‘s Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility, the Atomic Spectroscopyand Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons (ASACUSA) collaboration is carrying out precise laser spectroscopy experiments on antiprotonic helium (p̅He+ ≡ p̅+He2++e−) atoms. By employing buffer-gas cooling techniquesin a cryogenic gas target, samples of atoms were cooled to temperatureT = 1.5–1.7 K, thereby reducing the Doppler width in the single-photon resonance lines. By comparing the results with three-body quantum electrodynamics calculations, the antiproton-to-electron mass ratio was determined as Mp̅/me = 1836.1526734(15). This agreed with the known proton-to-electron mass ratio with a precision of 8 . 1010. Further improvements in the experimental precision are currently being attempted. The high-quality antiproton beam provided by the future Extra Low Energy Antiproton Ring (ELENA) facility should further increase the experimental precision.

A Low-Noise Charge Amplifier for the ELENA Trajectory, Orbit, and Intensity Measurement System

A low-noise head amplifier has been developed for the extra low energy antiproton ring beam trajectory, orbit, and intensity measurement system at CERN. This system is based on 24 double-electrode electrostatic beam position monitors installed around the ring. A head amplifier is placed close to each beam position monitor to amplify the electrode signals and generate a difference and a sum signal. These signals are sent to the digital acquisition system, about 50 m away from the ring, where they are digitized and further processed. The beam position can be measured by dividing the difference signal by the sum signal while the sum signal gives information relative to the beam intensity. The head amplifier consists of two discrete charge preamplifiers with junction field effect transistor (JFET) inputs, a sum and a difference stage, and two cable drivers. Special attention has been paid to the amplifier printed circuit board design to minimize the parasitic capacitances and inductances at the charge amplifier stages to meet the gain and noise requirements. The measurements carried out on the head amplifier showed a gain of 40.5 and 46.5 dB for the sum and difference outputs with a bandwidth from 200 Hz to 75 MHz and an input voltage noise density lower than $400~\text {pV}/\surd \text{Hz}$ . Twenty head amplifiers have been already installed in the ring and they have been used to detect the first beam signals during the first commissioning stage in November 2016.

The AD and ELENA orbit, trajectory and intensity measurement systems

This paper describes the new Antiproton Decelerator (AD) orbit measurement system and the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA) orbit, trajectory and intensity measurement system. The AD machine at European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is presently being used to decelerate antiprotons from 3.57 GeV/c to 100 MeV/c for matter vs anti-matter comparative studies. The ELENA machine, presently under commissioning, has been designed to provide an extra deceleration stage down to 13.7 MeV/c. The AD orbit system is based on 32 horizontal and 27 vertical electrostatic Beam Position Monitor (BPM) fitted with existing low noise front-end amplifiers while the ELENA system consists of 24 \\gls{BPM}s equipped with new low-noise head amplifiers. In both systems the front-end amplifiers generate a difference (delta) and a sum (sigma) signal which are sent to the digital acquisition system, placed tens of meters away from the AD or ELENA rings, where they are digitized and further processed. The beam position is calculated by dividing the difference signal by the sum signal either using directly the raw digitized data for measuring the turn-by-turn trajectory in the ELENA system or after down-mixing the signals to baseband for the orbit measurement in both machines. The digitized sigma signal will be used in the ELENA system to calculate the bunched beam intensity and the Schottky parameters with coasting beam after passing through different signal processing chain. The digital acquisition arrangement for both systems is based on the same hardware, also used in the ELENA Low Level Radio Frequency (LLRF) system, which follows the VME Switched Serial (VXS) enhancement of the Versa Module Eurocard 64x extension (VME64x) standard and includes VITA 57 standard Field Programmable Gate Array Mezzanine Card (FMC). The digital acquisition Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) firmware shares many common functionalities with the LLRF system but has been tailored for this measurement application in particular. Specific control and acquisition software has been developed for these systems. Both systems are installed in AD and ELENA. The AD orbit system currently measures the orbit in AD while the ELENA system is being used in the commissioning of the ELENA ring.

Case study of a magnetic system for low-energy machines

The extra low-energy antiproton ring (ELENA) is a CERN particle decelerator with the purpose to deliver antiprotons at lowest energies aiming to enhance the study of antimatter. The hexagonal shaped ring with a circumference of about 30 m will decelerate antiprotons from momenta of 100 to $13.7\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}/\mathrm{c}$. In this paper, the design approach for a magnet system for such a machine is presented. Due to the extra-low beam rigidity, the design of the magnet system is especially challenging because even small fields, arising for example from residual magnetization and hysteresis, have a major impact on beam dynamics. In total, seven prototype magnets of three different magnet types have been built and tested. This paper outlines challenges, describes solutions for the design of the magnet system and discusses the results of the prototypes.

Non-Gaussian beam dynamics in low energy antiproton storage rings

In low energy antiproton facilities, where electron cooling is fundamental, the cooling forces together with heating phenomena causing emittance blow-up, such as Intra Beam Scattering (IBS), result in highly non-Gaussian beam distributions. In these cases, a precise simulation of IBS effects is essential to realistically evaluate the long term beam evolution, taking into account the non-Gaussian characteristics of the beam. Here, we analyse the beam dynamics in the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA), which is a new small synchrotron currently being constructed at CERN to decelerate antiprotons to energies as low as 100keV. Simulations are performed using the code BETACOOL, comparing different models of IBS.

Intra-beam Scattering Effects in ELENA

Intra-Beam Scattering (IBS) is one of the main limiting processes for the performance of low energy ion storage rings, such as the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA) that is being constructed at CERN. IBS effects limit the achievable equilibrium 6D beam phase space volume during the cooling process, as well as the stored beam intensity. In this contribution we analyse the IBS effects on the beam dynamics of the ELENA ring in detail. Numerical simulations using the codes BETACOOL and MAD-X have been performed to compute the beam life time and the equilibrium phase space parameters with electron cooling in the presence of IBS.

Simulation studies of the beam cooling process in presence of heating effects in the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA)

The Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA) is a small synchrotron equipped with an electron cooler, which is currently being constructed at CERN to further decelerate antiprotons from the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) from 5.3 MeV to energies as low as 100 keV. At such low energies it is very important to carefully take contributions from electron cooling and beam heating mechanisms (e.g. on the residual gas and intrabeam scattering) into account. Detailed investigations into the ion kinetics under consideration of effects from electron cooling and heating sources have been carried out, and the equilibrium phase space dimensions of the beam have been computed, based on numerical simulations using the code BETACOOL. The goal is to provide a consistent explanation of the different physical effects acting on the beam in ELENA.

CERN ELENA project progress report

The Extra Low Energy Antiproton ring (ELENA) is a CERN project aiming at constructing a 30 m circumference synchrotron to further decelerate antiprotons from the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) from 5.3 MeV to 100 keV. The additional deceleration complemented by an electron cooler to reduce emittances will allow the existing AD experiments to increase substantially their antiproton capture efficiencies and render new experiments possible. The ELENA design is now well advanced and the project has entered the construction stage, in particular for what concerns the infrastructure. Installation of the machine components is foreseen during the second half of 2015 and beginning of 2016 followed by ring commissioning until the end of 2016. New electrostatic transfer lines to the experiments will be installed and commissioned during the first half of 2017 followed by the first physics operation with AD/ELENA end of 2017. Main ELENA related infrastructure progresses as well as the status of the project are reported.

Low-Noise Charge Preamplifier for Electrostatic Beam Position Monitoring Sensor at the ELENA Experiment

The Extra Low ENergy Antiproton ring (ELENA) is a synchrotron under construction at CERN aimed to decelerate the antiprotons from the existing Antiproton Decelerator (AD) to an energy of 100 keV. The orbit measurement of the beam is accomplished by 20 electrostatic Beam Position Monitoring (BPM) sensors to measure complete orbits every 20ms with a resolution of 0.1mm for intensities in the range of 1-3×107 charges. For the conditioning of the pick-up signals from the BPMs a low-noise charge amplifier has been purposely designed and is under testing. The circuit must feature a bandwidth of 40MHz and an equivalent input voltage noise spectral density of 0.4 nV/√Hz for a sensor capacitance CS of about 26 pF. After amplification, the sum and difference signals are analogically derived and sent over 50 m cables to further blocks for digitalization and processing.

The ELENA Project at CERN

CERN has a longstanding tradition of pursuing fundamental physics on extreme low and high energy scales. The present physics knowledge is successfully described by the Standard Model and the General Relativity. In the anti-matter regime many predictions of this established theory still remain experimentally unverified and one of the most fundamental open problems in physics concerns the question of asymmetry between particles: why is the observable and visible universe apparently composed almost entirely of matter and not of anti-matter? There is a huge interest in the very compelling scientiic case for anti-hydrogen and low energy anti-proton physics, here to name especially the Workshop on New Opportunities in the Physics Landscape at CERN which was convened in May 2009 by the CERN Directorate and culminated in the decision for the final approval of the construction of the Extra Low ENergy Antiproton (ELENA) ring by the Research Board in June 2011. ELENA is a CERN project aiming to construct a small 30 m circumference synchrotron to further decelerate anti-protons from the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) from 5.3 MeV down to 100 keV.