• D.C. Faircloth, M.H. Bates, S.R. Lawrie, A.P. Letchford, M. Perkins, M.E. Westall, M. Whitehead, P. Wise, T. Wood
  STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• C. Gabor
  STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• D.A. Lee, P. Savage
  Imperial College of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, London
• J.K. Pozimski
  STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon

The RAL Front End Test Stand (FETS) is being constructed to demonstrate a chopped H^- beam of up to 60 mA at 3 MeV with 50 pps and sufficiently high beam quality for future high-power proton accelerators (HPPA). High power proton accelerators with beam powers in the several megawatt range have many applications including drivers for spallation neutron sources, neutrino factories, waste transmuters and tritium production facilities. The aim of the FETS project is to demonstrate that chopped low energy beams of high quality can be produced and is intended to allow generic experiments exploring a variety of operational conditions. This paper details the first results from the initial operation of the ion source.

• P. Wise, M.H. Bates, D.C. Faircloth, S.R. Lawrie, A.P. Letchford, M. Perkins, M. Whitehead, T. Wood
  STFC/RAL/ISIS, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• C. Gabor
  STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• J.K. Pozimski, P. Savage
  Imperial College of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, London

The RAL Front End Test Stand (FETS) is being constructed to demonstrate a chopped H− beam of up to 60 mA at 3 MeV with 50 pps and sufficiently high beam quality for future high-power proton accelerators (HPPA). This paper details the mechanical engineering components manufactured so far and the challenges which need to be meet in the near future.

• D.A. Lee, P. Savage
  Imperial College of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, London
• C. Gabor
  STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• J.K. Pozimski
  STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon

The RAL Front End Test Stand is being constructed to demonstrate production of a high-quality, chopped 60 mA H^- beam at 3 MeV and 50 pps. In parallel to the accelerator development, non-destructive laser-based beam diagnostics are being designed. This paper reports on the realisation of a laser-based profile instrument that will be able to reconstruct the complete 2D transverse beam density distribution by scanning a laser beam through the ion beam at a variety of angles and then computationally combining the results. Commissioning results are presented alongside plans for future developments.

• S. Jolly, M.J. Easton, P. Savage
  Imperial College of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, London
• A.P. Letchford, J.K. Pozimski
  STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon

A 4m-long, 324MHz four-vane RFQ, consisting of four coupled sections, is currently being designed for the Front End Test Stand (FETS) at RAL in the UK. Previous beam dynamics simulations, based on field maps produced with a field approximation code, provide a baseline for the new design. A novel design method is presented that combines the CAD and electromagnetic modelling of both the RFQ tank and the vane modulations with more sophisticated beam dynamics simulations using the General Particle Tracer code (GPT). This approach allows the full integration of the optimisation of the RFQ, based on beam dynamics simulations using a 3D EM-field map of the CAD model, with the design and manufacture of the RFQ vane modulations and RFQ tank. The design process within the Autodesk Inventor CAD software is outlined and details of the EM modelling of the RFQ in CST EM Studio are given. Results of beam dynamics simulations in GPT are presented and compared to previous results with field approximation codes. Finally, possible methods of manufacture based on this design process are discussed.