Abstract
The transverse profile of a particle beam within an accelerator facility is a critical parameter for machine operation and optimisation. In linear accelerators this measurement is typically carried out with an optical imaging system. However, in synchrotron light sources, the beam size is often much smaller, requiring a much greater resolution of the optical system. Very often the necessary resolution is below the diffraction limit imposed by imaging at optical wavelengths. To resolve this issue, the beam size needs to be measured in one of two ways; either by an X-ray pinhole camera, or by interferometry.
Recent work has demonstrated a method of reconstructing the entire transverse beam profile using a mechanical rotating double-slit interferometer. This measurement produces the same information as an X-ray pinhole camera, but is slower due to the multi-shot aspect of the measurement and the length of time it takes to make adjustments to the mechanical interferometer.
This project aims to reproduce this measurement using a Digital Micro-mirror Device (DMD). A DMD is an array of individually controllable micron-scale mirrors, which can be set into one of two tilted states. The mechanical double-slit will be replaced with a DMD, and the DMD mirrors will be used to produce different “slits” in various orientations to perform the interferometry. This will significantly decrease the length of time a scan takes, as the DMD can update at a frequency of around 100 Hz.
Speaker's Bio
Alex is an MRes student at the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Chester, conducting research at Daresbury laboratory. Alex is visiting CERN in the next coming months as part of his student mobility grant awarded by Santander and the University of Chester. His supervisors are Dr Theodoros Papadopoulos, University of Chester and Prof Carsten Welsch, Daresbury Laboratory.