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Here we report radiation dose estimates calculated for the X-band Laboratory for Accelerators and Beams (X-LAB) under construction at the University of Melbourne (UoM). The lab will host a CERN X-band test stand containing two 12 GHz 6 MW klystron amplifiers. By power combination through hybrid couplers and the use of pulse compressors, up to 50 MW of peak power can be sent to any of to either of the two test slots at pulse repetition rates up to 400 Hz. The test stand is dedicated to RF conditioning and testing CLIC’s high gradient accelerating structures beyond 100 MV/m. This paper also gives a brief overview of the general principles of radiation protection legislation; explains radiological quantities and units, including some basic facts about radioactivity and the biological effects of radiation; and gives an overview of the classification of radiological areas at X-LAB, radiation fields at high-energy accelerators, and the radiation monitoring system used at X-LAB. The bunker design to achieve a dose rate less than annual dose limit of 1 mSv is also shown., Proceedings of the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2022, Bangkok, Thailand

Work has been underway for some time to design a compact electron beamline utilising X-band linear accelerating structures in the new Melbourne X-band Laboratory for Accelerators and Beams (X-LAB). The original design utilised an S-band RF photogun as an input to a pair of high gradient X-band linear accelerating structures, but we have been motivated to investigate an alternative starting section to allow for initial testing. This will utilise a DC photogun and S-band accelerating structure similar to those used at the Australian Synchrotron. Simulation results incorporating space charge of a beamline composed of a DC photogun, S-band accelerating structures, and two high gradient X-band structures will be presented. These simulation results will be optimised for minimum emittance at the end of the beamline., Proceedings of the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2022, Bangkok, Thailand

The first Southern Hemisphere X-band Laboratory for Accelerators and Beams (X-LAB) is under construction at the University of Melbourne, and it will operate CERN X-band test stand containing two 12GHz 6MW klystron amplifiers. By power combination through hybrid couplers and the use of pulse compressors, up to 50 MW of peak power can be sent to any of 2 test slots at pulse repetition rates up to 400 Hz. The test stand is dedicated to RF conditioning and testing CLIC’s high gradient accelerating structures beyond 100 MV/m. It will also form the basis for developing a compact accelerator for medical applications, such as radiotherapy and compact light sources. Australian researchers working as part of a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, international universities, national industries, the Australian Synchrotron -ANSTO, Canadian Light Source and the CERN believe that creating a laboratory for novel accelerator research in Australia could drive technological and medical innovation., Proceedings of the 12th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2021, Campinas, SP, Brazil

A recent upgrade to the high power RF network of the linac at the Australian Synchrotron included a SLED Type 1 Pulse Compressor allowing for the operation of its 100 MeV linac using a single klystron. We explore the effects of the SLED installation on the properties of the beam extracted from the linac with a particular focus on the energy spread and bunch train profile. Additionally, the optical fibre beam loss monitor (oBLM), also recently commissioned, was employed to provide shot-by-shot feedback on loss location and intensity to investigate the change in beam losses., Proceedings of the 10th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2019, Melbourne, Australia

Testing of high gradient accelerating structure prototypes for the Compact Linear Collider is ongoing at CERN. High power testing of the baseline structure CLIC-G, also known as TD26CC R05, from the most recent concept design review was conducted on CERN’s second X- band test stand, Xbox 2. Several months of conditioning resulted in an ultimate unloaded gradient of 110 MV/m, the highest achieved for a structure with higher-order mode damping, with a 170ns flat-top RF pulse and operating with a breakdown rate of 2 ×10−5 breakdowns/pulse/metre. Investigations of the breakdown distribution demonstrated homogenous breakdown behaviour throughout the structure when fields were below 110 MV/m. After high power testing, a measurement of the RF parameters of the structure illustrated a significant change in the S- parameters consequential of a detuning of the cells, equating to a 1 MHz shift in the frequency.

In July 2016, the first X-band test facility operating with two interwoven, 6 MW klystron pulses was commissioned at CERN. Outputting up to 46 MW after pulse compression, the new test stand allows testing of two structures concurrently with repetition rates up to 400 Hz in each line. RF commissioning of all four lines has been completed and testing of high gradient accelerating structures for the Compact Linear Collider has commenced. Operations have been ongoing for more than a year, where dedicated control algorithms have been developed to conditioning the structure and to keep the pulse compressors tuned. Significant progress has been made in understanding the conditioning of two structures that are sharing an interlock and vacuum system. The high repetition rate is already showing the significantly reduced time needed to condition accelerating structures., Proceedings of the 9th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada

A distributed beam loss monitoring system, based on Cherenkov silica fibres, has been installed at the Australian Synchrotron. The fibres are installed parallel to the beam pipe and cover the majority of the injection system and storage ring. Relativistic charged particles from beam loss events that have a velocity above the Cherenkov threshold produce photons in the fibres. These photons are then guided along the fibres to detectors outside of the accelerator tunnels. Originally the system was installed to determine its suitability for measuring losses at a future linear collider, such as the Compact Linear Collider, with single pass 150 ns bunch trains. This study builds on these results and attempts to use the system to measure loss locations with a circulating beam. We present the preliminary results and describe how the system could be improved., Proceedings of the 9th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Nominal operating conditions for the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) 380 GeV requires 72 MV/m loaded accelerating gradients for a 180 ns flat-top pulse. Achieving this requires extensive RF conditioning which past tests have demonstrated can take several months per structure, when conditioned at the nominal repetition rate of 50 Hz. At CERN there are three individual X-band test stands currently operational, testing up to 6 structures concurrently. For CLIC's 380 GeV design, 28,000 accelerating structures will make up the main linac. For a large scale conditioning programme, it is important to understand the RF conditioning process and to optimise the time taken for conditioning. In this paper, we review recent X-band testing results from CERN's test stands. With these results we investigate how to optimise the conditioning process and demonstrate the feasibility of pre-conditioning the structures at a higher repetition rate before installation into the main linac., Proceedings of the 9th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Beam loss monitoring systems based on optical fibres (oBLM), have been under consideration for future colliders for several years. To distinguish losses between consecutive quadrupoles, a position resolution of less than 1 m is required. A resolution of better than 0.5 m has been achieved in machines with single, nanosecond long pulses. For longer beam pulses, such as the ~150 ns CLIC pulse, the longitudinal length of signals in the fibre is close to the duration of the beam pulse itself which makes loss reconstruction very challenging. In this contribution, results from experiments into the position resolution of an oBLM based on long beam pulses are presented. These measurements have been performed at the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) and the Australian Synchrotron Light Source (ASLS). In CTF3, controlled beam losses were created at different quadrupoles in the 28 m long decelerating Test Beam Line (TBL) LINAC by altering the current supplied or misaligning them. In ASLS the flexibility of the facility allowed the location of beam losses generated by single bunches to be studied as well as losses for longer bunch trains up to 600 ns in duration., Proceedings of the 4th International Beam Instrumentation Conference, IBIC2015, Melbourne, Australia

An improved understanding of intra-bunch instabilities in synchrotron light source electron bunches is crucial to overcoming the imposed limitations of the achievable intensity. A Multiband Instability Monitor, designed specifically for the short bunches of a synchrotron light source, has been developed to perform measurements of intra-bunch dynamics. The MIM performs real-time measurements at a diagnostic beamline using optical synchrotron radiation incident on a high speed photodetector. Three frequency bands up to 12 GHz were used to identify characteristic frequency signatures of intra-bunch instabilities. Mixed to baseband using RF detectors, these high frequency measurements can be performed without the need for similarly high frequency digitisers. This paper reports on the performance of the system at the Australian Synchrotron., Proceedings of the 4th International Beam Instrumentation Conference, IBIC2015, Melbourne, Australia

This paper summarizes the physics potential of the CLIC high-energy e+e- linear collider. It provides input to the Snowmass 2013 process for the energy-frontier working groups on The Higgs Boson (HE1), Precision Study of Electroweak Interactions (HE2), Fully Understanding the Top Quark (HE3), as well as The Path Beyond the Standard Model -- New Particles, Forces, and Dimensions (HE4). It is accompanied by a paper describing the CLIC accelerator study, submitted to the Frontier Capabilities group of the Snowmass process.