Summary of Fermilab's Recycler Electron Cooler Operation and Studies

TL;DR

Fermilab's Recycler Electron Cooler was a unique 4.3 MeV device used for antiproton cooling, with distinctive features like relativistic energy and specific magnetic field configurations, operational for six years.

Contribution

This paper presents the design, implementation, and operational experience of a novel electron cooling system at Fermilab's Recycler ring, highlighting its unique features and performance over six years.

Findings

Successful commissioning and operation over 6 years

Effective cooling of 8-GeV antiprotons

Insights into the cooler's performance and optimization

Abstract

Fermilab's Recycler ring was used as a storage ring for accumulation and subsequent manipulations of 8-GeV antiprotons destined for the Tevatron collider. To satisfy these missions, a unique electron cooling system was designed, developed and successfully implemented. The most important features that distinguish the Recycler cooler from other existing electron coolers are its relativistic energy (it employs a 4.3 MeV, 0.1 A DC electron beam), a weak continuous longitudinal magnetic field in the cooling section (~100 G), and lumped focusing elsewhere. With the termination of the collider operation at Fermilab, the cooler operation was also terminated. In this article, we will summarize the experience of commissioning, optimizing and running this unique machine over the 6 years of its existence.