skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Aliasing errors in measurements of beam position and ellipticity

Journal Article · · Review of Scientific Instruments
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2038304· OSTI ID:20723149
 [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mail Stop P942, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

Beam position monitors (BPMs) are used in accelerators and ion experiments to measure currents, position, and azimuthal asymmetry. These usually consist of discrete arrays of electromagnetic field detectors, with detectors located at several equally spaced azimuthal positions at the beam tube wall. The discrete nature of these arrays introduces systematic errors into the data, independent of uncertainties resulting from signal noise, lack of recording dynamic range, etc. Computer simulations were used to understand and quantify these aliasing errors. If required, aliasing errors can be significantly reduced by employing more than the usual four detectors in the BPMs. These simulations show that the error in measurements of the centroid position of a large beam is indistinguishable from the error in the position of a filament. The simulations also show that aliasing errors in the measurement of beam ellipticity are very large unless the beam is accurately centered. The simulations were used to quantify the aliasing errors in beam parameter measurements during early experiments on the DARHT-II accelerator, demonstrating that they affected the measurements only slightly, if at all.

OSTI ID:
20723149
Journal Information:
Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 76, Issue 9; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2038304; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English