Design of a 120 MeV $H^{-}$ Linac for CERN High-Intensity Applications

The SPL (Superconducting Proton Linac) study at CERN foresees the construction of a 2.2 GeV linac as a high beam-power driver for applications such as a second-generation radioactive ion beam facility or a neutrino superbeam. At the same time such a high-performance injector would both modernize and improve the LHC injection chain. The 120 MeV normal-conducting section of the SPL could be used directly in a preliminary stage for H- charge-exchange injection into the PS Booster. This would increase the proton flux to the CERN experiments while also improving the quality and reliability of the beams for the LHC. The 120 MeV linac consists of a front-end, a conventional Drift Tube Linac (DTL) to 40 MeV and a Cell Coupled Drift Tube Linac (CCDTL) to the full energy. All the RF structures will operate at 352 MHz, using klystrons and RF equipment recovered from the LEP collider. This paper concentrates on the design of the 3 to 120 MeV section. It introduces the design criteria for high-stability beam optics and the RF structure design work for the relatively low-frequency CCDTL. The advantages of this structure with respect to other solutions are outlined. The results of measurements on a cold CCDTL model are presented.