A 40 MHz Bunch by Bunch Intensity Measurement for the CERN SPS and LHC

A new acquisition system has been developed to allow the measurement of the individual intensity of each bunch in a 40MHz bunch train. Such a system will be used for the measurement of LHC type beams after extraction from the CERN-PS right through to the dump lines of the CERN-LHC. The method is based on integrating the analogue signal supplied by a Fast Beam Current Transformer at a frequency of 40MHz. This has been made possible with the use of a fast integration ASIC developed by the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France, for the LHC-b pre-shower detector. The output of the integrator is digitised using a 12-bit ADC and fed into a Digital Acquisition Board (DAB) that was originally developed by TRIUMF, Canada, for use in the LHC orbit system. A full system set-up was commissioned during 2002 in the CERN-SPS, and following its success will now be extended in 2003 to cover the PS to SPS transfer lines and the new TT40 LHC extraction channel.