First Performance Results Of The PIP2IT MEBT 200 Ohm Kicker Prototype

TL;DR

This paper presents initial performance results of a 200 Ohm traveling wave kicker prototype for the PIP-II project, demonstrating its ability to perform arbitrary beam chopping at high frequencies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 200 Ohm traveling wave kicker prototype and reports its first beam test performance at the PIP2IT facility.

Findings

Successful beam chopping at 81.25 MHz for microseconds

Effective arbitrary pattern switching for 550 μs bursts

High-speed switch driver operated reliably at 500 V bias

Abstract

The PIP-II project is a program to upgrade the Fermilab accelerator complex. The PIP-II linac includes a 2.1 MeV Medium Energy Beam Transport (MEBT) section that incorporates a unique chopping system to perform arbitrary, bunch-by-bunch removal of 162.5 MHz structured beam. The MEBT chopping system will consist of two identical kickers working together and a beam absorber. One design of two having been proposed has been a 200 Ohm characteristic impedance traveling wave dual-helix kicker driven with custom designed high-speed switches. This paper reports on the first performance results of one prototype kicker built, installed and tested with beam at the PIP-II Injector Test (PIP2IT) facility. The helix deflector design details are discussed. The electrical performance of the high-speed switch driver operating at 500 V bias is presented. Tests performed were chopping beam at 81.25 MHz for microseconds as well as with a truly arbitrary pattern for 550 $\mu$s bursts having a 45 MHz average switching rate and repeating at 20 Hz.