• V.B. Graves, A.J. Carroll, P.T. Spampinato
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• I. Efthymiopoulos, A. Fabich, J. Lettry
  CERN, Geneva
• H.G. Kirk
  BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
• K.T. McDonald
  PU, Princeton, New Jersey

Funding: U.S. Department of Energy contract DE-AC05-00OR22725

Operation of a mercury jet delivery system is presented. The delivery system is part of the Mercury Intense Target (MERIT) Experiment, a proof-of-principle experiment conducted at CERN in 2007 which demonstrated the feasibility of using an unconstrained jet of mercury as a target for a future Neutrino Factory or Muon Collider. The Hg system was designed to produce a 1-cm-diameter, 20 m/s Hg jet inside a high-field (15 Tesla), 15-cm-bore solenoid magnet. A high-speed optical diagnostic system allowed observation of the interaction of the jet with both 14- and 24-GeV proton beams. Performance of the Hg system during the in-beam experiment will be presented.

• K.T. McDonald
  PU, Princeton, New Jersey
• J.R.J. Bennett
  STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• O. Caretta, P. Loveridge
  STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• A.J. Carroll, V.B. Graves, P.T. Spampinato
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• I. Efthymiopoulos, A. Fabich, F. Haug, J. Lettry, M. Palm, H. Pereira
  CERN, Geneva
• H.G. Kirk, H. Park, T. Tsang
  BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
• N.V. Mokhov, S.I. Striganov
  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.

Slides

• I. Efthymiopoulos, A. Fabich, A. Grudiev, F. Haug, J. Lettry, M. Palm, H. Pereira, H. Pernegger, R.R. Steerenberg
  CERN, Geneva
• J.R.J. Bennett
  STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• O. Caretta, P. Loveridge
  STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• A.J. Carroll, V.B. Graves, P.T. Spampinato
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• H.G. Kirk, H. Park, T. Tsang
  BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
• K.T. McDonald
  PU, Princeton, New Jersey
• N.V. Mokhov, S.I. Striganov
  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.

• H.G. Kirk, H. Park, T. Tsang
  BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
• J.R.J. Bennett
  STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• O. Caretta, P. Loveridge
  STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• A.J. Carroll, V.B. Graves, P.T. Spampinato
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• I. Efthymiopoulos, A. Fabich, F. Haug, J. Lettry, M. Palm
  CERN, Geneva
• K.T. McDonald
  PU, Princeton, New Jersey
• N.V. Mokhov, S.I. Striganov
  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.