**May 26, 2006**

**[Projects in the Accelerator Division suited for University
collaboration]{.underline}**

**[Contents]{.underline}**

Instrumentation pg. 2

Main Injector pg. 5

PBAR pg. 5

Proton Source pg. 6

Tevatron pg. 7

SDA pg. 8

R & D pg. 8

**[Contact Persons and Contributors:]{.underline}**

W. Ashmanskas, T. Bolshakov, J. Crisp, A. Jansson, I. Kourbanis, A.
Marchionni, D. Moehs, N. Mokhov, S. Nagaitsev, V. Papadimitriou, D.
Peterson, E. Prebys, V. Scarpine, M. Syphers, R. Tomlin, J. Volk, R.
Webber, M. Wendt, J. Zagel

**[INSTRUMENTATION]{.underline}**

*[1) MI Beam Position Monitors (BPMs)]{.underline}*

Discussion with Bob Webber on 03/13/2006

[project:]{.underline}  There are 250 Main Injector BPMs (the ones
currently installed) which have been measured/characterized at a test
stand. Measurements collected from four electrodes are being used to
calculate the best possible position. The data exist in ascii format. A
program will need to be written which will perform a statistical
analysis on the data and interpret them.\
\
[qualifications:]{.underline}  Programming and analysis skills.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  \~ three months for one student\
\
[contact person:]{.underline}  Bob Webber\
\
[time to start: ]{.underline} As soon as possible.

[COMMENT:]{.underline} One student and a faculty member to start working
on this in June 2006

*[2) Developing a Learning Tool for FPGA-Based
Instrumentation]{.underline}*

Discussion with Bill Ashmanskas on 02/13/2006

[project:]{.underline}  A group within the Accelerator Division has been
designing, and will soon try to build, a low cost, Ethernet-based, NIM
format circuit board that will include two analog RF down-converter
inputs, one ADC input, two DDS (synthesizer) outputs, one DAC output,
various digital I/Os, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) for
real-time data acquisition, and a uCdimm Linux-based CPU for data
processing and interfacing. The basic idea is to have a convenient,
adaptable package that can both receive and synthesize signals typical
of the Fermilab accelerator complex (e.g. 53 MHz beam and RF signals).
There are several specific applications for this board, one of which is
being described below.

The goal is to lower the barrier to entry for people interested in
learning to develop FPGA-based instrumentation. The idea is to develop a
set of clean, simple, well commented firmware and software that
demonstrates the basic functionality of the board's analog inputs and
outputs and interfaces the board to ACNET. For example, one could
implement both a turn-by-turn BPM signal processor and a test-signal
source for a turn-by-turn BPM signal processor. Once that is done, the
plan is to teach a seminar in which interested parties could learn to
program their own instances of the board for their own applications,
starting from the example code above.\
\
[qualifications:]{.underline}  One should be a confident C programmer.
It would be useful to know or learn VHDL(Very High Speed Integrated
Circuit Description Language). One will need to know how to work with an
oscilloscope.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  two-five months for one student/postdoc\
\
[contact person:]{.underline}  Bill Ashmanskas, Dave Peterson\
\
[time to start: ]{.underline} May 2006. Schedule is flexible but the
project needs to be finished by the end of summer or mid fall 2006.

*[3) Diagnostic Software for BPMs]{.underline}*

Discussion with Manfred Wendt on 05/18/2006

[project:]{.underline}  This task requires writing a self-diagnostic
program, which activates test signals at times of no-beam and routinely
checks the system for errors, malfunctions, drifts, etc. The software to
be written should include data storage and visualization, and (with
appropriate modifications) should be useable in all Beam Position
Monitor systems.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  Programming (C). It is also required to
learn some basics of the control system.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  one year for one student/postdoc working \~50%
of the time\
\
[contact person:]{.underline}  Jim Crisp, R. Webber, M. Wendt from the
instrumentation side and a representative from the side of the
corresponding machine.\
\
[time to start: ]{.underline} As soon as possible

*[4) Automating the calibration of the Beam Current Monitors (
toroids)]{.underline}*

Discussion with Manfred Wendt on 05/18/2006

[project:]{.underline}  Putting together self-diagnostic hardware and
software which will calibrate the toroids routinely during times of
no-beam. This includes harware modifications to supply remotely
controlled test signals to the toroid. The control software has to be
applicable for all toroid current monitors and include system checks,
data storage and visualization.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  For the hardware component, competence on
electronics design as well as on building and testing hardware. For the
software component, programming skills (C) are required. It is also
required to learn some basics of the control system.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  *Hardware*:1 year for one student/postdoc and a
technician/engineer working \~50% of the time. Software: 1 year for one
student/postdoc working \~50% of the time.\
\
[contact person:]{.underline}  Jim Crisp from the instrumentation side
and a representative from the side of the corresponding machine.\
\
[time to start: ]{.underline} As soon as possible

*[5) Projects on optical transition radiation (OTR)
monitors]{.underline}*

Discussion with Manfred Wendt on 05/18/2006

[project:]{.underline}  There are several possible projects on OTR
monitoring:

-   a\) design for an OTR detector for 8 GeV beams

-   b\) modification of the Tevatron OTR for turn-by-turn measurements

-   c\) investigation, designing and building OTR profile detectors for
    the Fermilab ILC test facility

[qualifications:]{.underline}  MS or PhD in Physics and programming
skills. Knowledge of LabView would be very useful as well as some
competence in optics, CCD cameras and electronics. b) needs in addition
some competence in mechanical design.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  \~ one year for one student/postdoc, 100% of
the time for a) and b). \~ 2 years for one student/postdoc, 100% of the
time for c).\
\
[contact person:]{.underline}  Vic Scarpine\
\
[time to start: ]{.underline} As soon as possible for b). a) and c) are
R&D projects.

*[6) Cavity BPMs]{.underline}*

Discussion with Manfred Wendt on 05/18/2006

[project:]{.underline}  Bench measurements of a cavity BPM, RF
measurements on a prototype cavity BPM on a teststand, by use of a
network analyzer.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  Some RF/microwave background/interest as
well as instrument control programming (e.g. LabView)\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  six months for a student/postdoc, \~75% of the
time.\
\
[contact person:]{.underline}  Jim Crisp, Manfred Wendt\
\
[time to start: ]{.underline} As soon as possible

**[MAIN INJECTOR]{.underline}**

Discussion with Ioannis Kourbanis on 03/31/2006

1\)

[project:]{.underline}  Study the MI IPM data and measure beam size and
other beam parameters.\
Compare with MI FW data when both available. (The IPM has the advantage
of providing turn by turn data). Direct comparison in beam size
measurements between the two horizontal detectors; one with the
permanent magnet and one without.\
\
[qualifications:]{.underline}  Willing to participate in measurements.
Data will be collected with\
Labview. Programming skills needed. Knowledge of  JAVA or C++ would be
useful.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  four-six months for one student/postdoc, \~50%
of the time.\
\
[work with:]{.underline}  Alberto Marchionni and Jim Zagel\
\
\
[time to start:]{.underline}  As soon as possible

**[PBAR]{.underline}**

Discussion with B. Ashmanskas on 02/13/2006

[project:]{.underline} Debuncher 53 MHz BPM
Firmware/Software/Commissioning

The Debuncher Beam Position Monitor (BPM) System is being adapted to be
capable of recording orbits of antiprotons, bunched at 53.1 MHz, during
every stacking cycle. (Currently, the BPM system is used to record
orbits of reverse protons, bunched at 2.5 MHz, during study periods).
For filtering, digitizing and processing the 53 MHz signals we will
probably use a revised version of the circuit-board design that is
already working for the AP2 transfer-line BPM system. While most of the
basic software and firmware will carry over from the AP2 line, some
programming will be needed to: a) accommodate circuit-board changes
(e.g. increased number of ADC bits) and b) to integrate a closed-orbit
beam signal over 20 milliseconds instead of a single-pass beam signal
over 1.6 microseconds.

The task would be some combination of FPGA firmware programming (to
receive and filter the raw ADC signals), C programming for an embedded
CPU (for readout and housekeeping), and hardware/system installation and
troubleshooting.

The benefit to the accelerator complex will be the ability to monitor
Debuncher orbits while running. This will allow us to see drifts, e.g.
due to temperature changes or component failures. It will also allow
some kinds of acceptance-improvement studies that currently require
dedicated study time to be done parasitically while running. One can
hope that this feature may contribute positively to the average stacking
rate.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  Comfortable in writing C code and good at
debugging problems. One should know from some electronics course what is
a flip-flop, a counter, a RAM, a state machine and a pipeline.

[duration:]{.underline}  \~ three months for one student/postdoc

[work with:]{.underline}  Bill Ashmanskas, Dave Peterson\
\
[time to start:]{.underline}  As soon as possible. Would like to have
the system up and running as soon as possible after the end of the
spring 2006 accelerator shutdown.

**[PROTON SOURCE]{.underline}**

*[1) Radiation Robot]{.underline}*

Discussions with Eric Prebys on 01/19/2006 and with Ray Tomlin on
04/10/06

[project:]{.underline} Monitor beam loss and radiation in real time. The
Robots currently calibrate the loss monitors installed in the Booster
ring. Two Robots are available and two more are under construction to be
used in other rings or for additional purposes. The goal is to complete
the assembly of the two new Robots and help program them.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  some hardware and programming skills

[duration:]{.underline}  \~ three months for a student

[work with:]{.underline}  Ray Tomlin, Eric Prebys\
\
[time to start:]{.underline}  As soon as possible.

*[2) New corrector magnet system in Booster - Proton Plan]{.underline}*

Discussion with Eric Prebys on 01/19/2006

[project:]{.underline} The Booster has a corrector system comprised of
horizontal and vertical trim dipoles as well as regular and skew
quadrupoles. This system is not sufficiently powerful to control either
the beam position or the tune at high field and severalof the
corrections are happening in a manual way. The new corrector system will
allow for higher level tuning. Need to decide on final configuration and
algorithm for correction. A simulation package will need to be put
together as well as interpretation of the results.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  Ph.D in Accelerator Physics. Programming
skills.

[duration:]{.underline}  \~ one year for a postdoc.

[work with:]{.underline}  Eric Prebys\
\
[time to start:]{.underline}  As soon as possible. By mid 2007 the first
half of the corrector needs to be installed and the simulation has to be
completed well before then.

**[TEVATRON]{.underline}**

*[HLS:]{.underline}*

Discussion with Jim Volk on 03/09/2006

[project:]{.underline} Hydrostatic water level monitoring of the
Tevatron\
\
There are 250 water levels in the Tevatron, one for each quadrupole
magnet. They are read out once a minute through ACNET. The task is to
write some Java scripts that will collect the data and make plots of the
sensor levels, correlations between sensors, and differences between
sensors. These plots should be available on a day by day basis and also
for an entire month of data. Programs exist already to get the data and
can be used as a starting point for programs that will deal with the 250
sensors. We will try also to\
correlate the vertex positions for both CDF and D0 with water level
data.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  Programming and analysis skills needed.
Knowledge of Java would be very useful.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  \~three months for one student/postdoc. Two
students working together would be very efficient here.\
\
[work with:]{.underline}  Jim Volk\
\
[time to start:]{.underline}  As soon as possible

**[SDA]{.underline}**

*[SDA Reports and Reports MT:]{.underline}*

Discussion with Timofei Bolshakov and Vaia Papadimitriou on 04/19/2006

[project:]{.underline}\
Improve and enhance the functionality of two Web-based JSP/Java programs
that work with SDA (Sequenced Data Acquisition/Shot Data Analysis) and
produce user defined tables and plots.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  Programming skills in Java, JSP and basic
Web-design.\
\
[duration:]{.underline}  \~three months for one student/postdoc\
\
[work with:]{.underline}  Timofei Bolshakov, Vaia Papadimitriou\
\
[time to start:]{.underline}  June 2006

**[R&D]{.underline}**

*[1) Accelerating Radioactive Ions in the Tevatron]{.underline}*

Discussion with Andreas Jansson on 03/13/2006

[project:]{.underline} Accelerating Radioactive Ions in the Tevatron

To generate a very pure and intense neutrino beam for Neutrino Physics
experiments, it has been proposed to use the beta-decay of radioactive
ions (eg. 6He and 18Ne) stored in a high energy decay ring. The original
proposal was to use the CERN SPS to accelerate the ions to 100GeV, but
recent work has shown that it would advantageous to go to even higher
energies. The Tevatron will be retired from collider physics in a few
years, and could perhaps be used for the purpose. However, the decay
products will present a significant heat load to the cryogenic magnets,
which will limit the number of ions that can be accelerated. To
understand where the limit is, a simulation of heat deposition from
secondaries is needed.\
\
One can find more info on beta-beams at: <http://cern.ch/beta-beam/>

[qualifications:]{.underline} Some experience with particle tracking
codes, such as Fluka, Geant or Mars. General knowledge of Accelerator
Physics, energy deposition, heat transfer and\
superconductivity.\
\
[duration]{.underline}: \~three months for three people (depending on
background).\
\
[contact person:]{.underline} Andreas Jansson, N. Mokhov\
\
[time to start]{.underline}: As soon as possible

[COMMENT:]{.underline} Two students and a faculty member to start
working on this in June 2006

*[2) Proton Driver]{.underline}*

Discussion with Bob Webber on 03/13/2006

[project:]{.underline} Proton Driver

The 325 MHz Klystron will be powered in May 2006. (Its power modulator
is to arrive at the Lab in April). Programming will be needed in order
to develop EPICS screens (real time user interface for controls) for
monitoring the interlocks and parameters of the RF power system.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  Programming and analysis skills.
Knowledge of C or C++ would be very useful. Will need to become familiar
with EPICS.

[duration]{.underline}: \~ six months for a student/postdoc, 50% of the
time.

[contact person:]{.underline}  Bob Webber

[time to start]{.underline}: As soon as possible after April 2006

*[3) Proton Driver]{.underline}*

Discussion with Doug Moehs on 04/19/2006

[project:]{.underline} Testing diamond foils for the Proton Driver
project. Testing will be done at 750 KeV where the energy deposition
into the foil is comparable to that of the multi-turn injection schemes
proposed for the Proton Driver. As part of this work the student will
build two small Faraday cups to measure the beam current passing through
the foils. The student will then proceed to test carbon and diamond
foils using the H- pre accelerator.

[qualifications:]{.underline}  A physics background. Some electrical
skills, such as soldering and some oscilloscope experience. Over the age
of 18.

[duration]{.underline}: Two to three months for a student.\
\
[contact person:]{.underline}  Doug Moehs

[time to start]{.underline}: As soon as possible.