Development of hollow electron beams for proton and ion collimation

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development and testing of a hollow electron beam device designed to improve collimation in high-energy colliders by enabling controlled halo removal and reducing beam loss issues.

Contribution

It introduces a new hollow electron gun and reports on its performance and stability tests, paving the way for its application in collider collimation systems.

Findings

Successful design and construction of a hollow electron gun

Performance and stability validated at Fermilab test stand

Preparation for integration into Tevatron for further testing

Abstract

Magnetically confined hollow electron beams for controlled halo removal in high-energy colliders such as the Tevatron or the LHC may extend traditional collimation systems beyond the intensity limits imposed by tolerable material damage. They may also improve collimation performance by suppressing loss spikes due to beam jitter and by increasing capture efficiency. A hollow electron gun was designed and built. Its performance and stability were measured at the Fermilab test stand. The gun will be installed in one of the existing Tevatron electron lenses for preliminary tests of the hollow-beam collimator concept, addressing critical issues such as alignment and instabilities of the overlapping proton and electron beams.