Design Considerations for the LHC 200 MHz RF System

The longitudinal beam transfer from the SPS into the LHC 400 MHz buckets will not be free of losses without a lower frequency capture system and a fast longitudinal damping system in LHC. We present a complete study of a combined system using four identical copper cavities at 200 MHz delivering 3 MV total CW voltage and having still enough bandwidth to achieve fast longitudinal damping. The shape of a cavity was designed according to the accelerating mode performance, its tuning and the higher order mode spectrum with respect to the LHC beam lines and their possible attenuation. The possibility to park the cavities during coast was included. The local heat load and the corresponding cooling water distribution as well as deformations were studied and techniques to build the cavity with all ports at low cost are proposed. The parameters of the RF generators, couplers and detuning are determined. Simulations of the total LHC RF system incorporating real delays, generator bandwidth and the control loops confirm that this system is capable of capturing and damping the beam longitudinally without losses.