Development of a control system for the fourth-harmonic cavity of the HLS storage ring

Harmonic RF cavities are commonly used in storage rings to lengthen the bunches and thus suppress the beam's instabilities and increase its Touschek lifetime. The voltage and phase of the electromagnetic fields in the harmonic cavity are of great importance for stretching the bunch. In the Hefei Light Source storage ring, a passive fourth-harmonic cavity is installed, and the cavity is monitored and controlled by an analog control module provided by its manufacturer. To vary and maintain the voltage of the harmonic cavity in a more effective way, a digital proportional, integral, and derivative feedback system based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System is developed on top of the analog control module. This paper reports the details of the development of this voltage control system. Some test and operational results are also presented.