Control and monitoring of the SPS proton and ion extractions

For the fixed target program of the SPS, protons and ions are accelerated and extracted towards seven target stations in the NORTH and WEST experimental areas. These extractions range from 106 Lead ions to 1013 protons with durations of 5 or 2.5 s and are controlled by a closed loop system. The intensity monitoring for this system is done with fast screens observed with Photo Multipliers and Secondary Emission Monitors sampled every 100 µs. Along the beam lines, the intensities of the extracted beams are monitored with fast screens at 100 ns intervals. Time and frequency domain information are extracted for diagnosis from the acquired data. A slower observation system, with a 1 ms sampling interval, is also available for assessing the evolution of the centre of charge, the intensity and the losses along the beam lines during an extraction.