PU, Princeton, New Jersey
STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
CERN, Geneva
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
Fermilab, Batavia
The MERIT (MERcury Intense Target) experiment was run in the fall of 2007 using 14 and 24 GeV intense proton beams from the CERN PS. It is a proof-of-principle experiment designed to validate a target concept for producing an intense muon source for a future muon collider or neutrino factory. The experiment successfully demonstrated a target technique for multi-MW proton beams that utilizes a free-flowing liquid metal jet within the confines of a high-field solenoid. We describe the experimental strategy and parameters, as well as the results obtained and their implications for future muon-based accelerator facilities.
CERN, Geneva
STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
PU, Princeton, New Jersey
Fermilab, Batavia
The MERIT experiment is a proof-of-principle test of a target system for high power proton beam to be used as front-end for a neutrino factory complex or a muon collider. The experiment took data in autumn 2007 with the fast extracted beam from the CERN Proton Synchrotron (PS) to a maximum intensity of about 30·1012 protons per pulse. We report results from the portion of the MERIT experiment in which separated beam pulses were delivered to a free mercury jet target with time intervals between pulses varying from 2 to 700 microseconds. The analysis is based on the responses of particle detectors placed along side and downstream of the target.
BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
CERN, Geneva
PU, Princeton, New Jersey
Fermilab, Batavia
We report on the analysis of data collected from the optical diagnostics of the MERIT experiment which was run at CERN in the fall of 2007. The breakup of the free mercury jet resulting from the impact of intense proton beams from the CERN PS within a magnetic field environment is described.
Sheffield University, Sheffield
University of Warwick, Coventry
STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
Funding: Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom)
The UK programme of high power target developments for a Neutrino Factory is centred on the study of high-Z materials (tungsten, tantalum). A description of lifetime shock tests on candidate materials is given as a part of the research into a solid target solution. A fast high current pulse is applied to a thin wire of the sample material and the lifetime measured from the number of pulses before failure. These measurements are made at temperatures up to ~2000 K. The stress on the wire is calculated using the LS-DYNA code and compared to the stress expected in the real Neutrino Factory target. It has been found that tantalum is too weak at these temperatures but a tungsten wire has reached over 26 million pulses (equivalent to more than ten years of operation at the Neutrino Factory). Measurements of the surface velocity of the wire using a laser interferometry system (VISAR) are in progress, which, combined with LS-DYNA modelling, will allow the evaluation of the constitutive equations of the material. An account is given of the optimisation of secondary pion production and capture in a Neutrino Factory and of the latest solid target engineering ideas.