MEANDER-LINE CURRENT STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT FOR SNS FAST CHOPPER

A new current structure for the fast traveling-wave 2.5MeV beam chopper in the front end of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) has been suggested in [1]. The structure is based on the meander-folded notched stripline with dielectric supports and separators. Its design has been optimized using electromagnetic 3-D modeling with the MAFIA code package to provide rise and fall times in the range of 1 to 2 ns. A full-length (50 cm) prototype has been manufactured, and its preliminary measurements showed a good agreement with the calculations. Detailed measurements results and their comparison with simulations are presented. The latest front-end design requires a shorter, 35-cm chopper with a higher pulse voltage. Its meander-line current structure, based on the same principles, has also been optimized with MAFIA.