CERN Accelerating science

Published Articles
Title Eradication of Mercury Ignitron from the 400 kA Magnetic Horn Pulse Generator for CERN Antiproton Decelerator
Author(s) Namora, Vasco (CERN) ; Calviani, Marco (CERN) ; Ducimetière, Laurent (CERN) ; Faure, Patrick (CERN) ; Fernandez, Luis (CERN) ; Grawer, Gregor (CERN) ; Senaj, Viliam (CERN)
Publication 2018
Number of pages 3
In: 9th International Particle Accelerator Conference, Vancouver, Canada, 29 Apr - 4 May 2018, pp.WEPMF086
DOI 10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2018-WEPMF086
Subject category Accelerators and Storage Rings
Accelerator/Facility, Experiment CERN AD
Abstract The CERN Antiproton Decelerator (AD) produces low-energy antiprotons for studies of antimatter. A 26 GeV proton beam impacts the AD production target which produces secondary particles including antiprotons. A magnetic Horn (AD-Horn) in the AD target area is used to focus the diverging antiproton beam and increase the antiproton yield enormously. The horn is pulsed with a current of 400 kA, generated by capacitor discharge type generators equipped with ignitrons. These mercury-filled devices present a serious danger of environmental pollution in case of accident and safety constraints. An alternative has been developed using solid-state switches and diodes. Similar technology was already implemented at CERN for ignitron eradication in the SPS Horizontal beam dump in the early 2000s. A project was launched to design and set up a full-scale test-bench, to install and test a dedicated solid-state solution. Following the positive results obtained from the test-bench, the replacement of ignitrons by solid-state devices in the operational AD-Horn facility is currently under preparation. This paper describes the test-bench design and results obtained for this very high current pulser.
Copyright/License CC-BY-3.0

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