D. Evbota

Solenoid Magnet System for the Fermilab Mu2e Experiment

The Fermilab Mu2e experiment seeks to measure the rare process of direct muon to electron conversion in the field of a nucleus. Key to the design of the experiment is a system of three superconducting solenoids; a muon production solenoid (PS) which is a 1.8 m aperture axially graded solenoid with a peak field of 5 T used to focus secondary pions and muons from a production target located in the solenoid aperture; an “S shaped” transport solenoid (TS) which selects and transports the subsequent muons towards a stopping target; a detector solenoid (DS) which is an axially graded solenoid at the upstream end to focus transported muons to a stopping target, and a spectrometer solenoid at the downstream end to accurately measure the momentum of the outgoing conversion electrons. The magnetic field requirements, the significant magnetic coupling between the solenoids, the curved muon transport geometry and the large beam induced energy deposition into the superconducting coils pose significant challenges to the magnetic, mechanical, and thermal design of this system. In this paper a conceptual design for the magnetic system which meets the Mu2e experiment requirements is presented.

Challenges and Design of the Transport Solenoid for the Mu2e Experiment at Fermilab

The Fermilab Mu2e experiment seeks to measure the rare process of direct muon to electron conversion in the field of a nucleus. The magnet system for this experiment is made of three warm-bore solenoids: the Production Solenoid (PS), the Transport Solenoid (TS), and the Detector Solenoid (DS). The TS is an “S-shaped” solenoid set between the other bigger solenoids. The Transport Solenoid has a warm-bore aperture of 0.5 m and field between 2.5 and 2.0 T. The PS and DS have, respectively warm-bore aperture of 1.5 m and 1.9 m, and peak field of 4.6 T and 2 T. In order to meet the field specifications, the TS starts inside the PS and ends inside the DS. The strong coupling with the adjacent solenoids poses several challenges to the design and operation of the Transport Solenoid. The coil layout has to compensate for the fringe field of the adjacent solenoids. The quench protection system should handle all possible quench and failure scenarios in all three solenoids. The support system has to be able to withstand very different forces depending on the powering status of the adjacent solenoids. In this paper, the conceptual design of the Transport Solenoid is presented and discussed focusing on these coupling issues and the proposed solutions.

Mu2e Transport Solenoid Prototype Tests Results

The Fermilab Mu2e experiment has been developed to search for evidence of charged lepton flavor violation through the direct conversion of muons into electrons. The transport solenoid is an s-shaped magnet that guides the muons from the source to the stopping target. It consists of 52 superconducting coils arranged in 27 coil modules. A full-size prototype coil module, with all the features of a typical module of the full assembly, was successfully manufactured by a collaboration between INFN-Genoa and Fermilab. The prototype contains two coils that can be powered independently. To validate the design, the magnet went through an extensive test campaign. Warm tests included magnetic measurements with a vibrating stretched wire and electrical and dimensional checks. The cold performance was evaluated by a series of power tests and temperature dependence and minimum quench energy studies.

Tolerance Studies of the Mu2e Solenoid System

The muon-to-electron conversion experiment at Fermilab is designed to explore charged lepton flavor violation. It is composed of three large superconducting solenoids, namely, the production solenoid, the transport solenoid, and the detector solenoid. Each subsystem has a set of field requirements. Tolerance sensitivity studies of the magnet system were performed with the objective of demonstrating that the present magnet design meets all the field requirements. Systematic and random errors were considered on the position and alignment of the coils. The study helps to identify the critical sources of errors and which are translated to coil manufacturing and mechanical support tolerances.

Studies on the Magnetic Center of the Mu2e Solenoid System

The definition of the magnetic center in the Mu2e solenoid system is not trivial given the S-shaped nature of the transport solenoid. Moreover, due to the fringe field of the larger bore adjacent magnets-production solenoid and the detector solenoid-the magnetic center does not coincide with the geometric center of the system. The reference magnetic center can be obtained by tracking a low-momentum charged particle through the whole system. This paper will discuss this method and will evaluate the deviations from the nominal magnetic center given the tolerances in the manufacturing and the alignment of the coils. Methods for the correction of the magnetic center will also be presented.

Mu2e Transport Solenoid Prototype Design and Manufacturing

The Mu2e Transport Solenoid consists of 52 coils arranged in 27 coil modules that form the S-shaped cold mass. Each coil is wound from Al-stabilized NbTi superconductor. The coils are supported by an external structural aluminum shell machined from a forged billet. Most of the coil modules house two coils, with the axis of each coil oriented at an angle of approximately 5° with respect to each other. The coils are indirectly cooled with LHe circulating in tubes welded on the shell. In order to enhance the cooling capacity, pure aluminum sheets connect the inner bore of the coils to the cooling tubes. The coils are placed inside the shell by the means of a shrink-fit procedure. A full-size prototype, with all the features of the full assembly, was successfully manufactured in a collaboration between INFN Genova and Fermilab. In order to ensure an optimal mechanical prestress at the coil-shell interface, the coils are inserted into the shell through a shrink-fitting process. We present the details of the prototype with the design choices as validated by the structural analysis. The fabrication steps are described as well.

Improvements and Performance of the Fermilab Solenoid Test Facility

The solenoid test facility at Fermilab was built using a large vacuum vessel for testing of conduction-cooled superconducting solenoid magnets, and was first used to determine the performance of the MICE coupling coil. The facility was modified recently to enable the testing of solenoid magnets for the muon-to-electron (Mu2e) experiment, which operates at much higher current than the coupling coil. One pair of low-current conduction-cooled copper and NbTi leads was replaced with two pairs of 10-kA high-temperature superconducting leads cooled by heat exchange with liquid nitrogen and liquid helium. The new design, with additional control and monitoring capability, also provides helium cooling of the superconducting magnet leads by conduction. A high current power supply with energy extraction was added, and several improvements to the quench protection and characterization system were made. Here, we present details of these changes and report on performance results from a test of the Mu2e prototype transport solenoid (TS) module. Progress on additional improvements in preparation for production TS module testing will be presented.

Aluminum Stabilized Superconducting Prototype Cable Development for the Mu2e Transport Solenoid

The Fermilab Mu2e experiment seeks to measure the rare process of direct muon to electron conversion in the field of a nucleus. The experiment makes use of three large superconducting solenoids: the production solenoid (PS), the transport solenoid (TS), and the detector solenoid (DS). The TS is an “S-shaped” solenoid with a warm-bore aperture of half a meter and field between 2.5 and 2.0 T. The three solenoids are based on four different types of Al stabilized NbTi conductors. All the conductors are composed of a Rutherford cable embedded in an aluminum matrix through a conforming process. This paper describes the various steps that led to the successful procurement of 3 km of Al-stabilized prototype cable for the Mu2e TS. The main cable properties and results of electrical and mechanical tests are presented and discussed for each stage of the cable development process. Results are compared to design values to show how the prototype cable lengths satisfied all the design criteria starting from the NbTi wires all the way to the Al-stabilized cables. Following the successful completion of this initial phase, the TS prototype cable is currently being used to manufacture a prototype TS coil in industry. The cable production phase has recently been launched, with the goal of producing 700 km of superconducting wire for a total of 44 km of TS Al-stabilized cable needed to build the entire Transport Solenoid system.