Fast Beam-Switching Kickers

The next generation nuclear physics accelerator facility, the Electron Ion Collider (EIC), will accelerate and collide spin polarized electrons and ions focused to an unprecedented density at their point of collision- To achieve the desired electron/ion density at the focal point, random velocity variations in the ions will be reduced using the technique of electron cooling- In this technique, the ion beam is temporarily accompanied by a high current electron beam in what is called the “cooling section”-As the ions travel with the electrons they impart their velocity variations to the lighter electrons, cooling the ions- At the end of the cooling section the electron beam is redirected back to the entrance of the cooling section for multiple passes- As the electron bunches swell from their collected heat, their cooling effectiveness diminishes, but their energy does not- To re-use the energy of these electron bunches they will be individually selected by fast beam-switching kickers and diverted back to the accelerator that produced them, but phased to drive the accelerator and providing much of the energy required to accelerate new electron bunches- This scheme requires beam-switching kickers with a speed and precision they are beyond the state of the art- In response to this recognized need, JLAB’s (SRF R&D), have developed a harmonic cavity to provide a transverse kick- Electrodynamic (with CIS) have developed a high precision programmable harmonic source technology, called the Harmonic Arbitrary waveform generator or HAWG, that is an ideal solution for driving the harmonic kicker cavity-