Preliminary results obtained with the LHC Vacuum Pilot Sector

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is affected by electron cloud that reduces the quality of the beam, provokes instabilities, and increases the residual-gas pressure and heat load in the vacuum chambers. Synchrotron radiation, via photoelectron emission, plays also an important role in the electron cloud build-up. An innovative room temperature Vacuum Pilot Sector (VPS) was installed in a straight section of the LHC to investigate these phenomena in situ. The VPS is instrumented to monitor the electron cloud and its interaction with different surfaces. Currently the system is testing technical surfaces such as copper, amorphous carbon coating, and NEG thin films.