Bunch shape measurement of CW heavy-ion beam

An accurate bunch shape measurement is one of the most important tasks during the fine tuning of multi-cavity accelerators. A device for the measurement of bunch time structure of cw heavy-ion beams with time resolution ∼20 picoseconds was developed, constructed and commissioned at ATLAS which is a 50 MV superconducting heavy-ion linac. The Bunch Shape Monitor (BSM) is based on the analysis of secondary electrons produced by a primary beam hitting a tungsten wire to which a potential of -10 kV is applied. In a BSM the longitudinal distribution of charge of the primary beam is coherently transformed into a spatial distribution of low energy secondary electrons through transverse rf modulation. The distribution of secondary electrons is detected by a chevron MCP coupled to a phosphor screen. The signal image on the screen is measured by use of a CCD camera connected to a PC. This BSM analyzes cw beams rather than pulsed beams studied by a previous device [1]. Design features of the BSM and the beam measurement results are reported