The Beam Profile Monitoring System for the IRRAD Proton Facility at the CERN PS East Area

In High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments, devices are frequently required to withstand a certain radiation level. As a result, detectors and electronics must be irradiated to determine their level of radiation tolerance. To perform these irradiations, CERN built a new irradiation facility in the East Area at the Proton Synchrotron (PS) accelerator. At this facility, named IRRAD, a high-intensity 24 GeV/c proton beam is used. During irradiation, it is necessary to monitor the intensity and the transverse profile of the proton beam. The Beam Profile Monitor (BPM) for IRRAD uses 39-channel pixel detectors to monitor the beam position. These pixel detectors are constructed using thin foil copper pads positioned on a flex circuit. When protons pass through the copper pads, they induce a measurable current. To measure this current and determine the total flux of protons passing through the thin foil copper detectors, a new data acquisition system was designed as well as a new database and on-line display system. In its final configuration, the IRRAD facility exploits four BPM devices located along the path of the irradiation beam. In this work, we present the design and the architecture of the BPM system, some results on its performance during the commissioning of the IRRAD proton beam, as well as the planned upgrades for this system.