Mechanical and magnetic alignment techniques for the RADLAC-II linear accelerator

The RADLAC-II beam line, which includes nine accelerating cavities, 25 solenoidal magnets, and a nine-cryopump vacuum system, is suspended from the top of a water tank by 60, 0.5 cm-diameter, stainless steel rods. There are seven swiveling joints providing beam line flexibility (similar to that of a spinal cord). We have developed a technique to mechanically align the ∼12-meter-long accelerator vacuum pipe to within a fraction of a millimeter. A high accuracy microprocessor-equipped theodolite is being used with a television camera, monitor, and hard copier for observation ease, comparison, and documentation. Three illuminated lucite targets with cross hairs are utilized to align the beam line which comprises vacuum pipes of three different I.D.s. For the in-situ magnetic alignment of the solenoids, a new technique is currently being developed and will be presented