Intensity control in experimental rooms of the GANIL accelerator

The safety re-examination of existing GANIL (the French national heavy-ion accelerator facility) installations requires the implementation of a safety system which makes possible the monitoring of beam intensities sent in the experimental rooms. The aim is to demonstrate that beam intensities stay below the authorized limits. The required characteristics should enable the measurement, by a non-interceptive method, of beam intensities from 5 nA to 5μA with a maximum uncertainty of ±5%, independently of the frequency and the beam energy. After a comparative study, two high frequency diagnostics were selected: the capacitive Pick-Up (PU) and the Fast Current Transformer (FCT). Based on results of simulation, laboratory tests and machine studies, this paper discusses all the considerations required to deliver accurate results from PU and FCT measurement of ion beams.