Probing half $β^*_y$ optics in the Accelerator Test Facility 2

A nanometer beam size at the interaction point (IP) is required for future linear colliders to achieve the desired rate of particle collisions. KEK Accelerator Test Facility 2 (ATF2), a scaled down implementation of the linear collider beam delivery system, serves for demonstrating the feasibility of the final focus system (FFS). An unprecedented low vertical beam size at the IP of about 40 nm has been already measured in ATF2 using the optics with a nominal βy*. In our study we decrease the βy* value in order to investigate the performance of more chromatic optics and to study the limits of beam focusing at the IP. Stronger beam focusing amplifies the aberrations from the final focus imperfections which cause an increase of the beam size at the IP. Simulations show that the multipolar errors and final doublet fringe fields spoil the IP beam sizes for ultralow βy* optics but can be mitigated either by increasing the value of the horizontal β* or installing a pair of octupole magnets. We report on our first experimental steps towards the ultralow βy* in ATF2. New methods for the beam diagnostics at the IP were developed in order to precisely set the desired optics. βy* value was half the nominal value. The beam tuning was performed and the measured beam size is compared with the simulation results.