Minimizing and Preventing Errant Beam at the SNS Accelerator

[Brian-G]

Title: Minimizing and Preventing Errant Beam at the SNS Accelerator

Presenter: Willem Blokland, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Abstract: Errant beam can lead to downtime or inefficiencies in the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) accelerator and negatively impact the neutron experiments. The development of a Differential and errant Beam Current Monitor (DBCM) and Target Imaging System (TIS) helps detect and/or prevent errant beam. The DBCM uses NI FlexRIO hardware to compare the intensity of the beam current in front of and after the superconducting linear accelerator to detect instant beam losses and pulse-to-pulse fluctuations. The TIS shows the size and position of the proton beam on the target by using NI Vision for LabVIEW to acquire and analyze images from the luminescent Cr:Al2O3 coating.