Improving the Fermilab Booster Notching Efficiency, Beam Losses and Radiation Levels
Currently a fast vertical 1.08-m long kicker (notcher) located in the Fermilab Booster Long-5 straight section is used to remove 3 out of 84 circulating bunches after injection to generate an abort gap. With magnetic field of 72.5 Gauss it removes only 87% of the 3-bunch intensity at 400 MeV, with 75% loss on pole tips of the focusing Booster magnets, 11% on the Long-6 collimators, and 1% in the rest of the ring. We propose to improve the notching efficiency and reduce beam loss in the Booster by using two horizontal kickers in the Long-12 section. The STRUCT calculations show that using such horizontal notchers, one can remove up to 99% of the 3-bunch intensity at 400-700 MeV, directing 96% of it to a new beam dump at the Long-13 section. This fully decouples notching and collimation. The beam dump absorbs most of the impinging proton energy in its jaws. The latter are encapsulated into an appropriate radiation shielding that reduces impact on the machine components, personnel and environment to the tolerable levels. The MARS simulations show that corresponding prompt and residual radiation levels can be reduced ten times compared to the current ones.