LINAC4, A New $H^{-}$ Linear Injector at CERN

Linac2, the present injector of the CERN PS Booster, limits the performance of the proton accelerator complex because of its low output energy (50 MeV). To remove this bottleneck, a higher energy linac is proposed (called â€ﾜLinac4†) which will double the brightness and the intensity of the beam delivered by the PSB and ensure the â€ﾜultimate” beam is available for LHC. Linac4 will deliver H- ions at a kinetic energy of 160 MeV. It is designed to be usable as the front-end of a future multi-GeV multi-MW linear accelerator, the â€ﾜSuperconducting Proton Linac” (SPL). R&D for Linac4 is now actively taking place with the support of the European Union through the Joint Research Activity HIPPI (â€ﾜHigh Intensity Pulsed Proton Injectors”), and of three ISTC projects involving three major Russian laboratories (BINP, IHEP and ITEP) and two nuclear centres (VNIIEF and VNIITF). The design of this new accelerator and the on-going developments are described.