CERN Linac4 - The Space Charge Challenge: Design and Commission

In the first phase of the upgrade program of the CERN accelerator complex the proton injector Linac2 will be replaced by a new, normal-conducting $H^-$ ion Linac, Linac4, allowing a significant increase of the proton flux intensity along the downstream accelerator complex. In the design of Linac4 three beam transport sections are implemented to match the beam between the different accelerator elements and to model the longitudinal pulse structure. These three beam transport sections, which are the most critical locations in terms of beam quality preservation, are in the focus of this thesis. During the work of this thesis the low energy beam transport (LEBT), which is required to match the source beam to the radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ), has been commissioned and its beam dynamics re-constructed. The measurement campaign used to re-construct the LEBT beam dynamics was performed with the aim to prepare the RFQ commissioning and to maximise the LEBT performance. Downstream of the Linac4 accelerator the beam is transported along a $180\,m$ long transfer line to the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PS-Booster). The transfer line optics was studied, optimised and sections were completely re-designed. The new transfer line optics is characterised by an improved preservation of the beam emittance, higher stability of the optical solution with respect to alignment errors and field jitters of the transfer line magnets and it is matched to each of the PS-Booster injection schemes. In a concluding ''Start-To-End'' simulation based on the measured beam characteristics at the LEBT exit the beam dynamics of the downstream Linac, including the transfer line, was calculated. To minimise particle losses within acceptable emittance preservation the beam optics of the Medium Energy Beam Transport (MEBT) was adapted to the measured beam parameters. This ''Start-To-End'' simulation was performed to identify critical sections of the Linac4 beam dynamics and to adjust the commissioning strategies.