Optimal Control of Gains in a Linear Accelerator: A Supervisory Method for Vector-Sum Control

In a linear accelerator, driven by radio frequency (RF) amplifier stations, one must precisely control the energy gain of the accelerating beam. The RF stations can be viewed as amplifiers placed sequentially to accelerate the beam. This brief presents two control schemes within which the RF stations act as actuators, and a centralized control unit controls the beam energy by acting either on the RF amplitudes or on the RF phases. The control algorithms are based on convex optimization problems with different objectives. The two approaches are successfully tested at the SwissFEL injector test facility using three full-scale RF stations. The two methods are compared from both performance and complexity points of view.