Trent Allison

A digital self excited loop for accelerating cavity field control

We have developed a digital process that emulates an analog oscillator and ultimately a self excited loop (SEL) for field control. The SEL, in its analog form, has been used for many years for accelerating cavity field control. In essence the SEL uses the cavity as a resonant circuit - much like a resonant (tank) circuit is used to build an oscillator. An oscillating resonant circuit can be forced to oscillate at different, but close, frequencies to resonance by applying a phase shift in the feedback path. This allows the circuit to be phased-locked to a master reference, which is crucial for multiple cavity accelerators. For phase and amplitude control the SEL must be forced to the master reference frequency, and feedback provided for in both dimensions. The novelty of this design is in the way digital signal processing (DSP) is structured to emulate an analog system. While the digital signal processing elements are not new, to our knowledge this is the first time that the digital SEL concept has been designed and demonstrated. This paper reports on the progress of the design and implementation of the digital SEL for field control of superconducting accelerating cavities.

CEBAF new digital LLRF system extended functionality

The new digital LLRF system for the CEBAF 12GeV accelerator will perform a variety of tasks, beyond field control [1]. In this paper we present the superconducting cavity resonance control system designed to minimize RF power during gradient ramp and to minimize RF power during steady state operation. Based on the calculated detuning angle, which represents the difference between reference and cavity resonance frequency, the cavity length will be adjusted with a mechanical tuner. The tuner has two mechanical driving devices, a stepper motor and a piezo-tuner, to yield a combination of coarse and fine control. Although LLRF piezo processing speed can achieve 10 kHz bandwidth, only 10 Hz speed is needed for 12 GeV upgrade. There will be a number of additional functions within the LLRF system; heater controls to maintain cryomodules heat load balance, ceramic window temperature monitoring, waveguide vacuum interlocks, ARC detector interlock and quench detection. The additional functions will be divided between the digital board, incorporating an Altera FPGA and an embedded EPICS IOC. This paper will also address hardware evolution and test results performed with different SC cavities.

Machine protection for high average current linacs

A fully integrated Machine Protection System (MPS) is critical to efficient commissioning and safe operation of all high current accelerators. The Jefferson Lab PEL has multiple electron beam paths and many different types of diagnostic insertion devices. The MPS needs to monitor both the status of these devices and the magnet settings which define the beam path. The matrix of these devices and beam paths are programmed into gate arrays, the output of the matrix is an allowable maximum average power limit. This power limit is enforced by the drive laser for the photocathode gun. The Beam Loss Monitors (BLMs), RF status, and laser safety system status are also inputs to the control matrix. There are 8 Machine Modes (electron path) and 8 Beam Modes (average power limits) that define the safe operating limits for the FEL. Combinations outside of this matrix are unsafe and the beam is inhibited. The power limits range from no beam to 2 megawatts of electron beam power. The timing requirements for the BLMs and RF is /spl sim/1 microsecond and for the insertion devices (viewers) is /spl sim/1 millisecond. The entire system is VME based and EPICS compatible. This paper describes the system as it is installed on the JLab 10 kW FEL.

New RF control system for the 12 GeV energy upgrade of the CEBAF accelerator at Jefferson Lab

The CEBAF Accelerator at Jefferson Lab presently consists of 50 MeV injector, two anti-parallel superconducting linacs and two arcs for transporting beam between the linacs. By the mid-1990s, the accelerator was providing electrons up to 5.75 GeV. The 12 GeV Upgrade is a major accelerator project aimed at doubling the energy by adding 10 (five per linac) new high gradient cryomodules, each providing 100 MV of field. The new cryomodule will consist of eight 7-cell superconducting cavities operating at an average accelerating gradient of 19.5 mv/m and with an external Q = 3.2 x 107 The high gradient, very high quality factor and large Lorentz detuning coefficient (KL up to 4) pose significant challenges beyond what the present analog low level RF (LLRF) control systems can handle reliably; therefore, a new digital LLRF control system has been developed. The main highlights of the new RF Control system include: a RF frontend with low temperature drift and good linearity, a large FPGA platform for digital signal processing, an EPICS Input Output Computer (IOC) using a PC-104 and a digital Self Exciting Loop (SEL) based algorithm. This paper provides an overview of the 6 GeV and 12 GeV Upgrade CEBAF machines, a summary of sources of cavity field variation that drive LLRF system performance, and discusses recent developments and progress in Jefferson Labs new LLRF system design.

Jefferson Lab’s Distributed Data Acquisition

Jefferson Lab’s Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) occasionally experiences fast intermittent beam instabilities that are difficult to isolate and result in downtime. The Distributed Data Acquisition (Dist DAQ) system is being developed to detect and quickly locate such instabilities. It will consist of multiple Ethernet based data acquisition chassis distributed throughout the seven‐eighths of a mile CEBAF site. Each chassis will monitor various control system signals that are only available locally and/or monitored by systems with small bandwidths that cannot identify fast transients. The chassis will collect data at rates up to 40 Msps in circular buffers that can be frozen and unrolled after an event trigger. These triggers will be derived from signals such as periodic timers or accelerator faults and be distributed via a custom fiber optic event trigger network. This triggering scheme will allow all the data acquisition chassis to be triggered simultaneously and provide a snapshot ...

CEBAF Distributed Data Acquisition System

There are thousands of signals distributed throughout Jefferson Lab’s Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) that are useful for troubleshooting and identifying instabilities. Many of these signals are only available locally or monitored by systems with small bandwidths that cannot identify fast transients. The Distributed Data Acquisition (Dist DAQ) system will sample and record these signals simultaneously at rates up to 40 Msps. Its primary function will be to provide waveform records from signals throughout CEBAF to the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The waveforms will be collected after the occurrence of an event trigger. These triggers will be derived from signals such as periodic timers or accelerator faults. The waveform data can then be processed to quickly identify beam transport issues, thus reducing down time and increasing CEBAF performance. The Dist DAQ system will be comprised of multiple standalone chassis distributed throughout CEBAF. They will be interconnected via a fiber optic network to facilitate the global triggering of events. All of the chassis will also be connected directly to the CEBAF Ethernet and run EPICS locally. This allows for more flexibility than the typical configuration of a single board computer and other custom printed circuit boards (PCB) installed in a card cage.

Integrating a Machine Protection System for High-Current Free Electron Lasers and Energy Recovery Linacs

A fully integrated Machine Protection System (MPS) is critical to efficient commissioning and safe operation of all high-current accelerators. The MPS needs to monitor the status of all devices that could enter the beam path, the beam loss monitors (BLMs), magnet settings, beam dump status, etc. This information is then presented to the electron source controller, which must limit the beam power or shut down the beam completely. The MPS for the energy recovery linac (ERL) at the Jefferson Lab Free Electron Laser [1] generates eight different power limits, or beam modes, which are passed to the drive laser pulse controller (DLPC) (photocathode source controller). These range from no beam to nearly 2 megawatts of electron beam power. Automatic masking is used for the BLMs during low-power modes when one might be using beam viewers. The system also reviews the setup for the two different beamlines, the IR path or the UV path, and will allow or disallow operations based on magnet settings and valve positions. This paper will describe the approach taken for the JLab 10-kW FEL. Additional details can be found on our website http://laser.jlab.org [2].