Phase Space Folding Studies for Beam Loss Reduction During Resonant Slow Extraction at the CERN SPS

The requested number of protons slow-extracted from the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) for Fixed Target (FT) physics is expected to continue increasing in the coming years, especially if the proposed SPS Beam Dump Facility is realised. Limits on the extracted intensity are already being considered to mitigate the dose to personnel during interventions required to maintain the extraction equipment, especially the electrostatic extraction septum. In addition to other on-going studies and technical developments, a reduction of the beam loss per extracted proton will play a crucial role in the future performance reach of the FT experimental programme at the SPS. In this paper a concept is investigated to reduce the fraction of beam impacting the extraction septum by folding the arm of the phase space separatrix. Beam dynamics simulations for the concept are presented and compared to the phase space acceptance of the extraction channel. The performance potential of the concept at SPS is evaluated and discussed alongside the necessary changes to the non-linear optical elements in the machine.