Control of Intra-Bunch Vertical Motion in the SPS with GHz Bandwidth Feedback

A GHz bandwidth vertical beam feedback system has been in development at the CERN SPS to explore control of unstable beam motion in single bunch and bunch train configurations. We present measurements and recent studies of stable and unstable motion for intensities up to 2x10¹¹ p/bunch. The system has been operated at 3.2GS/s with 16 samples across a 5 ns RF bucket (4.2 ns 3 σ bunch at injection). Experimental results confirm damping of intra-bunch instabilities in Q20, Q22 and Q26 optics configurations. Instabilities with growth times of 200 turns are well-controlled from injection, consistent with the achievable gains for the 2 installed stripline kickers with 1 kW broadband total power. Studies of the damping achieved with the diagonal FIR controllers and existing system noise floors are highlighted to evaluate benefits of MIMO feedback controllers. The work is motivated by anticipated intensity increases from the LIU and HL-LHC upgrade programs, and has included the development of a new 1 GHz bandwidth slotline kicker structure and associated amplifier system