Beam gas curtain monitor: Vacuum studies for LHC integration and operation

Abstract

A beam gas curtain (BGC) monitor has been designed to obtain information about the relative position between the LHC proton beam and the hollow electron lens electron beam through a minimally invasive process. Its working principle relies on intersecting the path of both beams with a supersonic gas curtain, introduced transversely into the LHC beamline, to produce a fluorescence signal. As an intermediate project stage (phase II), a preliminary version of the BGC monitor has been installed into the LHC beamline. To ensure the successful integration of the monitor and subsequent operation under LHC ultrahigh vacuum conditions, a series of vacuum studies have been performed. These can be classified as follows: An off-line laboratory test campaign, to assess BGC behavior during pump down and gas injections; simulations and analytical calculations, to evaluate BGC behavior and estimate the impact of its installation and operation in the LHC. This document will briefly present the off-line tests campaign, followed by a more extensive description of the simulations performed.