Characterizing proton beam of 6.7 MeV LEDA RFQ by fitting HEBT wire-scanner profiles to improved model.

Quadrupole scans in the HEBT of the 6.7 MeV LEDA RFQ were analyzed to characterize the transverse phase space at the RFQ exit. In previous work, the profiles measured by the wire scanner were fit to various models (HEBT simulations from the RFQ exit to the wire scanner) in an effort to determine the transverse Courant-Snyder parameters (a, p, and t) at the RFQ exit. Unfortunately, at the larger quadrupole settings, the measured profiles showed features that were not present in the simulations. This made good fits impossible. Here we describe our latest analysis, which resulted in very good fits by using an improved model for the beam at the RFQ exit. The model beam was generated by the RFQ simulation code TOUTATIS. In the fitting code, this beam was distorted by linear transformations that changed the Courant-Snyder parameters to whatever values were required by the nonlinear optimizer while preserving the high-order features of the phase-space distribution. This present success indicates that there has not been any missing physics in the codes, which gives us increased confidence in our accelerator designs. In addition, we have learned that details in the RFQ beam can make a significant difference in observed behavior downstream of the RFQ.