The new injection region of the CERN PS Booster

During the Long Shutdown 2 (LS2) at CERN, the new Linac4 (L4) accelerator will be connected to the PS Booster (PSB) to inject 160 MeV H$^−$ beam into the 4 superposed PSB rings. In order to achieve this, we have designed, built and pre-assembled a completely new H$^−$ charge-exchange injection chicane system, with a carbon stripping foil unit to convert the negative hydrogen ions into protons by stripping off the electrons. In parallel, we have built and installed a test stand in the L4 transfer line enabling us to gain valuable experience with operation of the stripping foil system and to evaluate different foil types during the L4 reliability runs. This paper describes the final design of the new PSB injection region and reports on the important test results obtained with the stripping foil test stand.