High-intensity Secondary Beams Research Articles

Secondary Beams at High-Intensity Electron Accelerator Facilities

The interaction of a high-current O(100 µA), medium energy O(10 GeV) electron beam with a thick target O(1m) produces an overwhelming shower of standard model particles in addition to hypothetical light dark matter particles. While most of the radiation (gamma, electron/positron) is contained in the thick target, deep penetrating particles (muons, neutrinos, and light dark matter particles) propagate over a long distance, producing high-intensity secondary beams. Using sophisticated Monte Carlo simulations based on FLUKA and GEANT4, we explored the characteristics of secondary muons and neutrinos and (hypothetical) dark scalar particles produced by the interaction of the Jefferson Lab 11 GeV intense electron beam with the experimental Hall-A beam dump. Considering the possible beam energy upgrade, this study was repeated for a 22 GeV CEBAF beam.

A quasi-non-invasive ultra-thin luminophore foil detector system for secondary beam monitoring

High-intensity secondary beams play a vital role in today’s particle physics and materials science research and require suitable detection techniques to adjust beam characteristics to optimally match experimental conditions. To this end we have developed a quasi-non-invasive, ultra-thin, CsI(Tl) luminophore foil detector system, based on CCD-imaging. We have used this to quantify the beam characteristics of an intensity-frontier surface muon beam used for next-generation charged lepton-flavour violation (cLFV) search experiments at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) and to assess the possible use for a future High-intensity Muon Beam (HiMB-project), currently under study at PSI. An overview of the production and intrinsic characteristics of such foils is given and their application in a high-intensity beam environment.

Development of a silicon micro-strip detector for tracking high intensity secondary beams

A single-sided silicon micro-strip detector (SSD) has been developed as a tracking detector for hadron experiments at J-PARC where secondary meson beams with intensities of up to 108Hz are available. The performance of the detector has been investigated and verified in a series of test beam experiments in the years 2009–2011. The hole mobility was deduced from the analysis of cluster events. The beam rate dependence was measured in terms of timing resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and hit efficiency. This paper describes the detector with its read-out system, details of the test experiments, and discusses the performance achieved.

Hadron Experimental Facility at J-PARC

We introduce the hadron experimental facility at J-PARC. High-intensity secondary beam lines are in operation, where kaons, pions, and antiprotons are delivered for experiments in hadron, nuclear, and particle physics. We present overview of some experimental programs in this facility. A high-momentum beam line is under construction, where a new research project is proposed by RCNP of Osaka University under the MoU on collaborative research among RCNP, IPNS/KEK, and the J-PARC center. A future plan to extend the hadron experimental facility is also described.

Future Facility: FAIR at GSI

The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, FAIR, is a new particle accelerator facility to be built at the GSI site in Germany. The research at FAIR will cover a wide range of topics in nuclear and hadron physics, high density plasma and atomic physics, and applications in condensed matter physics and biology. A 1.1 km circumference double ring of rapidly cycling 100 and 300 Tm synchrotrons, will be FAIR's central accelerator system. It will be used to produce, inter alia , high intensity secondary beams of antiprotons and short-lived radioactive nuclei. A subsequent suite of cooler and storage rings will deliver heavy ion and antiproton beams of unprecedented quality. Large experiments are presently being designed by the NUSTAR, PANDA, PAX, CBM, SPARC, FLAIR, HEDgeHOB and BIOMAT collaborations.

Beam diagnostics for high intensity hadron accelerators

High intensity hadron beam accelerators have been recently proposed and developed either for the production of high intensity secondary beams for Nuclear and Particle Physics research (EURISOL, SPIRAL2, FAIR), or Applied Physics in the field of Accelerator Driven System and waste transmutation (EUROTRANS). For these applications, high power Linear Accelerator (LINAC) are planned to produce and accelerate hadron beams up to 1 GeV. Both commissioning and operation of these accelerators require dedicated beam instrumentation able to monitor and characterize on line as completely as possible the produced beams having a power in the range of 1 MW. Beam current, transverse beam centroı¨d position and profiles and beam energy are the most important characteristics that have to be measured. Due to the high average power of the beam, nondestructive or at least minimally intercepting beam sensors are required. Beam instrumentation for IPHI (CEA/DSM and CNRS/IN2P3 collaboration) which is a high intensity proton (3 MeV, 100 mA, CW operation) injector initially designed to be a possible front end for this kind of LINAC is under realization. Beam diagnostics already under operation, developments in progress will be described and will introduce a more general description of high power beam instrumentation.

The NuSTAR facilty at FAIR

The NuSTAR facility at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt with its high intensity secondary beams of short-lived ions at relativistic energies will be unique worldwide. The combination of relativistic in-flight fragmentation and fission products with storage rings and the simultaneous availability of stored antiprotons and electrons will allow unique experiments to be performed that will address the fundamental and long-standing questions of low energy nuclear physics. A brief review of the experimental capabilities that have been proposed for experiments at the Super-FRagment-Separator at FAIR and a selection of the physics questions that will be addressed is given. Only a short glimpse at the physics questions being addressed and the observables providing answers to these questions can be given here.

Secondary beam production in the nuclear and particle physics facility in J-PARC

At the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), the world highest intensity secondary beams of kaons, pions, anti-protons, muons, and neutrinos will be produced by irradiating a target with the 50 GeV primary proton beam of 0.75 MW. Utilizing such high intensity secondary beams, various unique and interesting experimental studies in nuclear and particle physics can be carried out. We will describe the current R&D status of the target systems to be constructed in the Nuclear and Particle Physics Experimental Hall (NP-Hall) and the neutrino beam line of J-PARC. Some experimental studies proposed there will be also introduced.

A new high-resolution separator for high-intensity secondary beams

The NSCL has proposed an upgrade to its facility to provide primary beams of significantly higher intensity and higher energy for studies of nuclear reactions and nuclear structure, particularly to provide those primary beams needed to produce intense secondary beams. The center piece of this project is the replacement of the A1200 fragment separator with a new high-acceptance device called the A1900. The new fragment separator will connect the upgraded cyclotrons with the existing beamlines and provide the higher-intensity beams to the experimental equipment. Large gains in primary beam intensity, typically two or three orders of magnitude, will result from accelerating low charge-state ions in the K500 accelerator followed by stripping and further acceleration in the K1200 machine. Additional large gains in the intensity of the secondary beams will come from the very high acceptance of the A1900 fragment separator. The new separator, relying on large superconducting magnets, will accept over 90% of a variety of projectile fragmentation products. The ready availability of intense beams over the entire range of atomic number and masses will open new vistas in nuclear structure through the production and study of many new and previously inaccessible nuclei. The design of the A1900 superconducting quadrupoles and dipoles based on extensive experience with similar magnets is well underway.