Matching an H^– beam into a radio frequency quadrupole at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory^a)

A major component of work being carried out to upgrade the ISIS spallation neutron source at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is the Front End Test Stand (FETS). FETS is aimed at improving the luminosity of the linac, and consists of a Penning ion source, Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT), Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ), and Medium Energy Beam Transport (MEBT). It may serve as a first part of the accelerator chain providing a 60 mA, 3 MeV H^– beam up to a 10% duty cycle. The current output of the source and the transmission of the LEBT are reasonable, but there are issues with the alignment to provide a centred beam matched into the acceptance of the RFQ. Improvements have been made to the post acceleration to address this problem. Measurements with a collimated beam have been performed to understand the behaviour of the solenoids and steerer magnets. Comparing these results with simulations proved that, besides possible mechanical imperfections of the ion source and post acceleration assembly, agreement can only be achieved if the magnetic fields are distorted.