Redesign of CERN LINAC3 RFQ for Lead 29+

CERN Linac3 is at the heart of the CERN Heavy Ion Facility, providing 4.2 MeV/u ion beams to the Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR). It mostly accelerates 208Pb29+, though in recent years runs were performed with 40Ar11+ and 129Xe22+, in view of the raising interest of the physics community towards lighter ions experiments. In the framework of the LHC Injectors Upgrade (LIU) project, measurements and beam dynamics simulations showed that a transmission bottleneck of Linac3 is represented by the RFQ. As this accelerator was originally designed for 208Pb25+, the lower beam rigidity of the heavy ions currently in used – and planned to be used – permits a redesign of the RFQ aimed at increasing its transverse acceptance, and thus the transmitted beam current. The methodology adopted and the results of this study are presented.