Status report on the IUCF cooler-storage ring

Commissioning activities on the IUCF Cooler, a storage ring with internal targets and electron cooling, were begun in November, 1987. By June 1988, proton beam accumulation, storage, acceleration, and cooling (both in the absence and in the presence of internal targets) had been demonstrated. Commissioning studies in the summer of 1988 were devoted to measuring the lattice parameters and exploring the operating characteristics of the cooler and optimizing its performance for use as an intermediate-energy nuclear physics research instrument. Both stripping injection of 90 MeV H2+ ions and direct, fast kicker injection of 148 and 179 MeV polarized proton beams from the IUCF cyclotrons were demonstrated. The initial performance characteristics of the ring for beams stored, accelerated, and cooled in this new facility are discussed here. Results from preliminary measurements of the equilibrium properties of stored, cooled beams in the presence of thin internal targets (1014 atoms/cm2) are also reported. (orig.)