Spectrometers for RF breakdown studies for CLIC

An e(+)e(-) collider of several TeV energy will be needed for the precision studies of any new physics discovered at the LHC collider at CERN. One promising candidate is CLIC, a linear collider which is based on a two-beam acceleration scheme that efficiently solves the problem of power distribution to the acceleration structures. The phenomenon that currently prevents achieving high accelerating gradients in high energy accelerators such as the CLIC is the electrical breakdown at very high electrical field. The ongoing experimental work within the CLIC collaboration is trying to benchmark the theoretical models focusing on the physics of vacuum breakdown which is responsible for the discharges. In order to validate the feasibility of accelerating structures and observe the characteristics of the vacuum discharges and their eroding effects on the structure two dedicated spectrometers are now commissioned at the high-power test-stands at CERN. First, the so called Flashbox has opened up a possibility for non-invasive studies of the emitted breakdown currents during two-beam acceleration experiments. It gives a unique possibility to measure the energy of electrons and ions in combination with the arrival time spectra and to put that in context with accelerated beam, which is not possible at any of the other existing test-stands. The second instrument, a spectrometer for detection of the dark and breakdown currents, is operated at one of the 12 GHz stand-alone test-stands at CERN. Built for high repetition rate operation it can measure the spatial and energy distributions of the electrons emitted from the acceleration structure during a single RF pulse. Two new analysis tools: discharge impedance tracking and tomographic image reconstruction, applied to the data from the spectrometer make possible for the first time to obtain the location of the breakdown inside the structure both in the transversal and longitudinal direction thus giving a more complete picture of the vacuum breakdown phenomenon. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.