The Booster to AGS beam transfer fast kicker systems

The Brookhaven AGS Booster has a very successful commissioning period in June 1991. The third phase of that commissioning was a beam extraction test. The Booster extraction fast kicker (F3) deflected a 1.2 GeV proton beam from the Booster circulating orbit into the extraction septum aperture, partially down the extraction line to a temporary beam stop. Now, the Booster is committed to the AGS operations program for both heavy ion and proton beams. Thus, the Booster extraction and the corresponding AGS injection systems must operate routinely up to a pulse repetition frequency of 7.5 Hertz, and up to a beam energy of 1.5 Gev. The injection fast kicker is located in the A5 section of the AGS ring and is used to deflect the proton or heavy ion beam into its final AGS closed orbit. A distinctive feature of the AGS injection fast kicker modulators is the tail-bitting function required for proton beam injection. This enables the system to produce a fast current fall time to go along with the high current pulse amplitude with a fast rise time. The AGS injection fast kicker system has three pulse modulators, and each modulator consists of two thyratrons. The main PFN thyratrons switch on the current, and the tail bitting thyratrons are used to force the magnet current to decrease rapidly. Two digital pulse delay generators are used to align the main thyratrons and the tail bitting thyratrons respectively. The system has been tested and installed. The final commissioning of the Booster to AGS beam transfer line and injection is currently being undertaken. In this article, the system design, realization techniques and performance data will be presented