LANSCE wire scanning diagnostics device mechanical design
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) is one of the major experimental science facilities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The core of LANSCE's work lies in the operation of a powerful linear accelerator, which accelerates protons up to 84% the speed oflight. These protons are used for a variety of purposes, including materials testing, weapons research and isotopes production. To assist in guiding the proton beam, a series of over one hundred wire scanners are used to measure the beam profile at various locations along the half-mile length of the particle accelerator. A wire scanner is an electro-mechanical device that moves a set of wires through a particle beam and measures the secondary emissions from the resulting beam-wire interaction to obtain beam intensity information. When supplemented with data from a position sensor, this information is used to determine the cross-sectional profile of the beam. This measurement allows beam operators to adjust parameters such as acceleration, beam steering, and focus to ensure that the beam reaches its destination as effectively as possible. Some of the current wire scanners are nearly forty years old and are becoming obsolete. The problem with current wire scanners comes in the difficulty of maintenance and reliability. The designs of these wire scanners vary making it difficult to keep spare parts that would work on all designs. Also many of the components are custom built or out-dated technology and are no longer in production.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1009552
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-10-02655; LA-UR-10-2655; TRN: US1101533
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Beam Instrumentation Workshop 2010 ; May 3, 2010 ; Santa Fe, NM
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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