AWAKE and HiRadMat 2020

21 DECEMBER,2020 | By Markus Brugger

It was a busy year also for HiRadMat and AWAKE, both looking forward to restarting operation in 2021 and profiting from the LS period defining their mid- and long-term plans and advance in respective preparations.

CERNs’ High Radiation to Materials facility (HiRadMat) will resume operation after Long Shutdown 2 (LS2) and a successful re-commissioning with the upgraded injector chain and successful execution of the many proposed experiments are critical for the coming years. In this context, we have started devising an upgrade plan of the beam dump and the beam window, necessary to operate under the extreme conditions that are required for the future High-Luminosity LHC (HL) and/or the LHC Injector Upgrade (LIU) Beams, then providing unique experimental conditions for measurements to be carried out at HiRadMat. This in mind, during 2020 we addressed safety and consolidation related tasks and preparation work, such as looking in detail at the facility topology and required safety measures together with the fire-fighter. The refurbishment of the TT61 area (shielded area adjacent to HiRadMat experimental area) was also complemented by including patch panels for electronic systems ready for the user teams as from 2021. Furthermore, we started with the upgrade of the surface laboratory and updated the HiRadMat beam reference parameters, including the requirements of future LHC ultimate, LIU standard and BCMS (bunch compression, merging and splitting) SPS operation modes. Finally, with the completed full survey of the beam line, components and equipment (e.g. beam instrumentation), the area is now eagerly waiting for beam in 2021 where three slots for experiments are included in the approved injector schedule. AWAKE, while continuing the detailed analysis of the successful Run-1 including last year’s operation (leading to numerous publications in 2020), is now with confidence looking ahead to Run 2 and even beyond. A baseline of the physics program of the entire Run 2 has been defined and the design and corresponding simulations of the different experimental phases have well advanced. Preparing both, for 2021 operation and the mid/long-term needs for refurbishing the former CNGS target area, a new optical room has been prepared in EHN1, a testing area used by the collaboration for the plasma test stand and preparation of AWAKE Run 2 and where a number of optical diagnostics need to be tested before being implemented in the actual experiment, in the TT41 area. For Run 2, the diagnostic system will be significantly upgraded to gather more information, more reliably, including up to two more streak cameras with optical telescopes to rotate images, additional CCD cameras (one per streak camera) to monitor the beam position of every
event and yield additional time integrated information and alternative light focusing elements to maximize time resolution. Preparing for the 2021 Cost-and-Schedule Review (CSR), the dismantling of the former CNGS area is an important ingredient for possible operational and upgrade scenarios before, during and after LS3. Based on your obtained experience during the TCC6/WANF dismantling (providing the space for the above HiRadMat facility) and thanks to the updated integration studies, in collaboration with many equipment and service groups a first pre-analysis of the work required for a full CNGS dismantling was conducted. This major dismantling project of a controlled area (TCC4 and TSG4) will be the largest one to be conducted since a long time at CERN. A bright future ahead for AWAKE with Run-2 starting in 2021.

Let me finish this Advent article by taking a moment of silence, remembering Nick Simos who passed away in July and whom many of you have met at and around HiRadMat to which he was one of the founding fathers strongly contributing through the High Power Targetry R&D program and RaDIATE collaboration. Nick was a kind, generous person and a dedicated, always curious, scientist, supporting many of us professionally and personally.