An emittance scanner for high-intensity, low-energy ion beams

Abstract

My work in this thesis is a contribution toward the IsoDAR experiment, which aims to test the sterile neutrino hypothesis. In the IsoDAR experiment, neutrinos are generated by a 60 MeV proton beam impinging on a 9Be target and diffusing through 7 Li. This results in 'Li which beta decays, thereby producing an electron-antineutrino beam. To overcome space charge limitations, H+ is accelerated instead of protons. Acceleration is accomplished by a cyclotron, and the beam injected into the cyclotron needs to have a low emittance (a figure of merit for the beam quality). This is where the need for a way to measure our beam's emittance arises. This thesis covers the process of designing, fabricating, assembling, and commissioning an emittance scanner. The main challenges I faced were the high-intensity of the beam and a need for high precision. I designed an emittance scanner using CAD software. Its parts were then machined in MIT's Central Machine Shop and subsequently built and installed into vacuum. As of now, preliminary commissioning of the scanners has begun with a few initial scans already performed. The scan