Status Report on the Low-Energy Demonstration Accelerator (LEDA)

TL;DR

This paper reports on the construction, testing, and performance of the LEDA RFQ, a key component of a high-current proton linac for tritium production, including beam characteristics and power handling capabilities.

Contribution

It provides detailed operational data and performance metrics of the LEDA RFQ, demonstrating its capability for high-current cw proton beam acceleration.

Findings

Achieved 93-mA pulsed RFQ output beam with low emittance.

Coupled 2.2 MW cw RF power into the RFQ.

Successfully tested cw beam currents up to 100 mA.

Abstract

The 75-keV injector and 6.7-MeV RFQ that comprise the first portion of the cw, 100-mA proton linac for the accelerator production of tritium (APT) project have been built and operated. The LEDA RFQ has been extensively tested for pulsed and cw output-beam currents <=100 mA. Up to 2.2 MW of cw rf power from the 350-MHz rf system is coupled into the RFQ, including 670 kW for the cw proton beam. The emittance for a 93-mA pulsed RFQ output beam, as determined from quadrupole-magnet-scan measurements, is ex x ey = 0.25 x 0.31 (pi mm mrad)2 [rms normalized]. A follow-on experiment, to intentionally introduce and measure beam halo on the RFQ output beam, is now being installed.