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The AWAKE experiment studies the acceleration of electrons to multi-GeV levels driven by the plasma wakefield generated by an ultra-relativistic and high intensity proton bunch. The proton beam, being considerably more intense than the co-propagating electron bunch, perturbs the measurement of the electron beam position achieved via standard techniques. This contribution shows that the electrons position monitoring is possible by frequency discrimination, exploiting the large bunch length difference between the electron and proton beams. Simulations and a beam measurement hint, the measurement has to be carried out in a frequency regime of a few tens of GHz, which is far beyond the spectrum produced by the 1ns long (4 �� Gaussian) proton bunch. As operating a conventional Beam Position Monitor (BPM) in this frequency range is problematic, an innovative approach based on the emission of coherent Cherenkov Diffraction Radiation (ChDR) in dielectrics is being studied. After describing the monitor concept and design, we will report about the results achieved with a prototype system at the CERN electron facility CLEAR., Proceedings of the 10th International Beam Instrumentation Conference, IBIC2021, Pohang, Rep. of Korea

The CERN Linear Electron Accelerator for Research (CLEAR) at CERN has been operating since 2017 as a dedicated user facility providing beams for a varied range of experiments. CLEAR consists of a 20 m long linear accelerator (linac), able to produce beams from a Cs₂Te photocathode and accelerate them to energies of between 60 MeV and 220 MeV. Following the linac, an experimental beamline is located, in which irradiation tests, wakefield and impedances tudies, plasma lens experiments, beam diagnostics development, and terahertz (THz) emission studies, are performed. In this paper, we present recent upgrades to the entire beamline, as well as the design of future upgrades, such as a dogleg section connecting to an additional proposed experimental beamline. The gain in performance due to these upgrades is presented with a full range of available beam properties documented., Proceedings of the 12th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2021, Campinas, SP, Brazil

Despite the increase in interest in using Very High Energy Electron (VHEE) beams for cancer radiotherapy many unanswered questions in its development remain. The use of test facilities will be an essential tool used to solve these issues. The 200 MeV electron beam from the CERN Linear Accelerator for Research (CLEAR) has been used extensively, in collaboration with several research institutes, to perform dosimetry studies and explore potential applications of VHEE beams to radiotherapy, including the exploitation of the so called FLASH effect. In this paper, we present an overview of past studies with emphasis on the more recent results. We describe methods, techniques and equipment developed at CERN in this framework, and give an outlook on future activities., Proceedings of the 12th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2021, Campinas, SP, Brazil

The single machine scheduling problem with variable maintenance has been widely investigated by both academics and practitioners. Differently from most papers proposed so far, and conforming to a real-world process in the semiconductor industry, in this paper a single variable maintenance task has to be carried out within a specific time interval. The maintenance duration is an increasing function of its starting time. The objective is to minimize the total tardiness considering release times and sequence dependent setup times of jobs as well. Since an earlier maintenance starting time implies a smaller maintenance duration but a higher completion time of the subsequent jobs, the best schedule including maintenance activity and jobs has to be achieved. In order to optimally solve the scheduling problem at hand, two distinct mixed integers linear programming models (MILPs) are proposed and compared under the computational efficiency viewpoint.

This paper describes the concept of a primary electron beam facility at CERN, to be used for dark gauge force and light dark matter searches. The electron beam is produced in three stages: A Linac accelerates electrons from a photo-cathode up to 3.5 GeV. This beam is injected into the Super Proton Synchrotron, SPS, and accelerated up to a maximum energy of 16 GeV. Finally, the accelerated beam is slowly extracted to an experiment, possibly followed by a fast dump of the remaining electrons to another beamline. The beam parameters are optimized using the requirements of the Light Dark Matter eXperiment, LDMX, as benchmark., Proceedings of the 10th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2019, Melbourne, Australia

The CERN Linear Electron Accelerator for Research (CLEAR) has now finished its second year of operation, providing a testbed for new accelerator technologies and a versatile radiation source. Hosting a varied experimental program, this beamline provides a flexible test facility for users both internal and external to CERN, as well as being an excellent accelerator physics training ground. The energy can be varied between 60 and 220 MeV, bunch length between 1 and 4 ps, bunch charge in the range 10 pC to 2 nC, and number of bunches in the range 1 to 200, at a repetition rate of 0.8 to 10 Hz. The status of the facility with an overview of the recent experimental results is presented., Proceedings of the 10th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2019, Melbourne, Australia

In this paper, possible mechanisms by which electrons can induce single-event latchups in electronics are discussed. The energy deposition and the nuclear fragments created by electrons in silicon are analyzed in this context. The cross section enhancement effect in the presence of high-Z materials is discussed. First experimental results of electron-induced latchups are shown in static random access memory devices with low linear energy transfer thresholds. The radiation hardness assurance implications and future work are discussed. peerReviewed

The High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) will require unprecedented orbit stability at the low beta collision points (IP1 and IP5), and the effect of seismic noise might become a relevant source of luminosity loss. Many studies have been conducted in the past to characterise the actual ground motion in the LHC tunnel, and recently a few geo-phones have been installed to permanently monitor the ground stability at IP1 and IP5. An estimate of the impact of the main machine element vibration on orbit at the IPs and collimators is presented, together with a first look at the data collected by the installed geo-phones., Proceedings of the 9th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Here we investigate how inserts of various densities (0.001-2.2 g/cm³) affect the dose distribution properties of VHEE beams at ~150 MeV. A range variation comparison was also made with clinical proton beams using TOPAS/GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations. In addition, we assess the viability of scattering foils for optimizing the size of VHEE beams for radiotherapy purposes. The experiments were conducted at CERN's CLEAR user facility., Proceedings of the 9th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada

A fast and accurate simulation of Electron Cooling has recently been implemented in the tracking code RF-Track. The implementation, which is based on a "hybrid kinetic" model, enables the simulation of a large variety of realistic scenarios, including imperfections such as gradients in the electron density, misalignments of electrons / ions / solenoidal fields, both in the static and in the dynamic regimes. Benchmarks of the simulations against measurements performed at LEIR, using Lead and Xenon ions, are presented., Proceedings of the 9th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The new "CERN Linear Electron Accelerator for Research" (CLEAR) facility at CERN started its operation in fall 2017. CLEAR results from the conversion of the CALIFES beam line of the former CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) into a new testbed for general accelerator R&D and component studies for existing and possible future accelerator applications. CLEAR can provide a stable and reliable electron beam from 60 to 220 MeV in single or multi bunch configuration at 1.5 GHz. The experimental program includes studies for high gradient acceleration methods, e.g. for CLIC X-band and plasma technology, prototyping and validation of accelerator components, e.g. for the HL-LHC upgrade, and irradiation test capabilities for characterization of electronic components and for medical applications. An overview of the facility capabilities and a summary of the latest results will be presented., Proceedings of the 9th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada

A new CERN Linear Electron Accelerator for Research (named CLEAR) has been installed as a general-purpose user facility to study novel accelerating techniques, high-gradient structures, instrumentation and irradiation experiments. CLEAR is a flexible accelerator that can provide high quality bunched electron beams with a wide range of beam parameters up to an energy of 220 MeV, offering several testing capabilities. Among all the potential applications, novel accelerating techniques, such as plasma acceleration and THz generation are considered. These applications require shorter bunches, down to the 100 fs level. This paper reports on beam dynamics studies and instrumentation tests to establish a bunch length of this order in CLEAR. The short bunches are generated using adiabatic bunching in the first accelerating structure. For bunch length diagnostic CLEAR is equipped with a streak camera and a transverse deflecting cavity. Alternatively a phase-scan of the last accelerating structure could be used as well to estimate the bunch length. The experimental results with respect to these different techniques are presented and compared with simulations., Proceedings of the 29\textsuperscript{th} Linear Accelerator Conf., LINAC2018, Beijing, China

In this paper, we perform an in-depth analysis of the single-event effects observed during testing at medical electron linacs and an experimental high-energy electron linac. For electron irradiations, the medical linacs are most commonly used due to their availability and flexibility. Whereas previous efforts were made to characterize the cross sections at higher energies, where the nuclear interaction cross section is higher, the focus of this paper is on the complete overview of relevant electron energies. Irradiations at an electron linac were made with two different devices, with a large difference in feature size. The irradiations at an experimental linac were performed with varying energies and intensities to omit other possible effects. peerReviewed

In 2016, CLIC implementation working groups have started their reflection on how to finalize the CLIC design work in the different areas of the project, aiming for a technical design and an overall implementation plan for CLIC being available for the next European Strategy Update around 2019. One of the working groups has focused its attention on the Main Linac hardware, which has brought together the different competences of the study with the aim of producing an advanced set of specifications for the design, installation and operation of the CLIC module. As the fundamental unit for the construction of the Main Beam linac, the CLIC module needs to move from the existing prototypes exploring its performance into an advanced and functional unit where the full life cycle of the module is considered. The progress of the working group activity is summarized in this paper, with considerations on the requirements for the design of the next-phase CLIC module., Proceedings of the 8th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2017, Copenhagen, Denmark

One of the goals of the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) at CERN is to demonstrate the feasibility of the CLIC Drive Beam recombination, which takes place in the Drive Beam Recombination Complex (DBRC). The tight geometry of the DBRC together with its strong optics and the high energy-spread of the beam require a careful control of the beam size along the different sections of the DBRC. One of the main contribution to beam size is the dispersion. If uncontrolled, dispersion leads to fast increase of the beam size, hence it may affect the beam current stability of the combined beam. A tool has been implemented at CTF3 to measure and correct dispersion during and after the setup of the machine. Dispersion Free Steering (DFS) has been applied in the upstream drive beam LINAC, while Dispersion Target Steering (DTS) has been used in the rings of the DBRC. In the LINAC the weak optics and the wide dynamic aperture of the beamline allow a straightforward correction. In the DBRC the aperture is tighter, and the strong optics produce non-linear dispersion which one needs to take into account. A general overview of current status and future plans in controlling dispersion at CTF3 will be presented., Proceedings of the 28th Linear Accelerator Conf., LINAC2016, East Lansing, MI, USA

The RF breakdown rate is crucial for the luminosity performance of the CLIC linear collider. The required breakdown rate at the design gradient of 100 MV/m has been demonstrated, without beam presence, in a number of 12 GHz CLIC prototype structures. Nevertheless, the beam-loading at CLIC significantly changes the field profile inside the structures, and the behaviour with beam needs to be understood. A dedicated experiment in the CLIC Test Facility CTF3 to determine the effect of beam on the breakdown rate has been collecting breakdown data throughout the year 2016. The complete results of the experiment and the effect of the beam-loading on the breakdown rate are presented., Proceedings of the 8th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2017, Copenhagen, Denmark

One of the objective of the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) at CERN is to demonstrate the CLIC Drive Beam Recombination concept. An accurate control of the transverse beam parameters is necessary in order to succeed in preserving the beam quality after the recombination. During the activity of the facility we improved our tools and technique for characterising the transverse phase space of the beam before and after recombination. The common quadrupole scan technique was improved by performing constant-beam-size measurement and it was enriched by a tomographic reconstruction of the phase-space. Moreover studies have been performed in order to estimate and subtract the impact of dispersion on such a measurements. An overview of these techniques will be presented with actual measurements performed over the last year of operations of the facility., Proceedings of the 8th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2017, Copenhagen, Denmark

The unique CLIC TEST Facility (CTF3) has been built more than a decade ago to demonstrate the feasibility of the CLIC two beam acceleration scheme. The emphasis was one the high current drive beam generation using a fully loaded highly efficient linac and a complex combination scheme to increase beam current and bunch repetition frequency. This drive beam has been used for deceleration experiments and two beam acceleration. A wealth of relevant results for accelerator physics even beyond CLIC has been obtained and will be presented. The rf to beam efficiency of the linac exceeds 95%, after combination the 28 A drive beam with 12 GHz bunch repetition rate has been used to extract more than 50% of its energy producing 1.3 GW of 12 GHz power as well as performing two beam acceleration at 12 GHz with gradients up to 150 MV/m., Proceedings of the 8th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2017, Copenhagen, Denmark

The CLIC design relies on the two-beam acceleration principle, i.e. the energy transfer from the so called drive beam to the main colliding beams. At the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) at CERN the feasibility of this principle is being tested in terms of performance and achievable specifications. The high-current drive beam is generated by recombining its parts in a delay loop and a combiner ring. Preserving the drive beam emittance during the recombination process is crucial to ensure beam-current and power production stability. Present theoretical and experimental studies show that non-linear energy dependence of the transverse optics heavily spoils the quality of the recombined beam. Conventionally these effects are cured by means of non-linear corrections using sextupoles. In this work we propose a mitigation of these effects by optimising the linear lattice, leading to a more robust and easy to operate drive beam recombination complex. The latest results are presented., Proceedings of the 7th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2016, Busan, Korea

For the very low emittance beams in CLIC, it is vital to mitigate emittance growth which leads to reduced luminosity in the detectors. One factor that leads to emittance growth is transverse wakefields in the accelerating structures. In order to combat this the structures must be aligned with a precision of a few um. For achieving this tolerance, accelerating structures are equipped with wakefield monitors that measure higher-order dipole modes excited by the beam when offset from the structure axis. We report on such measurements, performed using prototype CLIC accelerating structures which are part of the module installed in the CLIC Test Facility 3 (CTF3) at CERN. Measurements with and without the drive beam that feeds rf power to the structures are compared. Improvements to the experimental setup are discussed, and finally remaining measurements that should be performed before the completion of the program are summarized., Proceedings of the 7th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2016, Busan, Korea

The proposed Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) uses a high intensity, low energy drive beam producing the RF power to accelerate the low intensity main beam with 100 MeV/m gradient. This scheme puts stringent requirements on drive beam stability in terms of phase, energy and current. Finding and understanding the sources of jitter plays a key role in their mitigation. In this paper, we report on the recent studies in the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3). New jitter and drift sources were identified and adequate beam-based feed-backs were implemented and commissioned. Finally, we present the resulting improvement of drive beam stability., Proceedings of the 7th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2016, Busan, Korea

The two-beam acceleration scheme envisaged for CLIC will require a high degree of phase stability between two beams at the drive beam decelerator sections, to allow efficient acceleration of the main beam. There will be up to 48 such decelerator sections for the full 3 TeV design, and each decelerator section will be instrumented with a feed-forward system to correct the drive beam phase to a precision of 0.2 degrees at 12 GHz relative to the main beam, using a kicker system around a four-bend chicane. A prototype system has been developed and tested at the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) complex, where the beam phase is measured upstream of the combiner ring and corrected with two kickers in a dog-leg chicane just upstream of the CLEX facility, where the resulting phase change is measured. This prototype is designed to demonstrate correction of a portion of the CTF3 bunch train to the level required for CLIC, with a bandwidth of greater than 30 MHz, and within a latency constraint of 380 ns as set by the beam time-of-flight through the combiner ring complex. A description of the hardware will be given and initial results from the first phase of the experiment will be presented., Proceedings of the 4th International Beam Instrumentation Conference, IBIC2015, Melbourne, Australia

The CLIC Test Facility CTF3 was build, commissioned and operated at CERN by an international collaboration, with the aim of validating the CLIC two beam acceleration scheme, in which the RF power used to accelerate e⁺/e⁻ beams is extracted from a high intensity electron beam. In the past years the main issues of such a scheme were assessed, demonstrating its feasibility. The CTF3 experimental programme is complementing these results by addressing cost and performance subjects, mainly using the CALIFES test beam injector and a full scale two-beam module. In this paper we document the present status and give an outlook to next year run, when the experimental programme should be completed., Proceedings of the 7th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2016, Busan, Korea

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) study for a future electron-positron collider with a center-of-mass energy up to 3 TeV aims for an accelerating gradient of 100 MV/m. The gradient is limited by RF breakdowns, and the luminosity requirements impose a limit on the admissible RF breakdown rate. RF testing of 12 GHz structure prototypes has shown that gradients in excess of 100 MV/m can be reached with the required breakdown rate. However at CLIC, the structures will be operated with significant beam-loading, modifying the field distribution inside. The effect of the beam-loading must be well understood but has not been previously measured. The commissioning and operation of an experiment to measure the effect of beam-loading on breakdown rate and the measurement results are presented., Proceedings of the 7th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2016, Busan, Korea

The accelerating structures for CLIC must be aligned with a precision of a few um with respect to the beam trajectory in order to mitigate emittance growth due to transverse wake fields. We report on first results from wake field monitor tests in an X-band structure, with a probe beam at the CLIC Test Facility. The monitors are currently installed in the CLIC Two-Beam Module. In order to fully demonstrate the feasibility of using wakefield monitors for CLIC, the precision of the monitors must be verified using a probe beam while simultaneously filling the structure with high power rf used to drive the accelerating mode. We outline plans to perform such a demonstration in the CLIC Test Facility., Proceedings of the 6th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2015, Richmond, VA, USA

Six UK institutes are engaged in a collaborative R&D; programme with CERN aimed at demonstrating key aspects of technology feasibility for the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC). We give an overview and status of the R&D; being done on: 1) Drive-beam components: quadrupole magnets and the beam phase feed-forward prototype. 2) Beam instrumentation: stripline and cavity beam position monitors, an electro-optical longitudinal bunch profile monitor, and laserwire and diffraction and transition radiation monitors for transverse beam-size determination. 3) Beam delivery system and machine-detector interface design, including beam feedback/control systems and crab cavity design and control. 4) RF structure design. In each case, where applicable, we report on the status of prototype systems and performance tests with beam at the CTF3, ATF2 and CesrTA test facilities, including plans for future experiments.

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a study for a future room temperature electron-positron collider with a maximum center-of-mass energy of 3 TeV. To efficiently achieve such high energy, the project relies on a novel two beam acceleration concept and on high-gradient accelerating structures working at 100 MV/m. In order to meet the luminosity requirements, the break-down rate in these high-field structures has to be kept below 10 per billion. Such gradients and breakdown rates have been demonstrated by high-power RF testing several 12 GHz structures. However, the presence of beam-loading modifies the field distribution for the structure, such that a higher input power is needed in order to achieve the same accelerating gradient as the unloaded case. The potential impact on the break-down rate was never measured before. In this paper we present an experiment located at the CLIC Test Facility CTF3 recently proposed in order to quantify this effect, layout and hardware status, and discuss its first results.

The path towards a multi-TeV e+e- linear collider proposed by the CLIC study is based on the Two-Beam Acceleration (TBA) scheme. Such a scheme is promising in term of efficiency, reliability and cost. The rationale behind the two-beam scheme is discussed in the paper, together with the special issues related to this technology and the R&D needed to demonstrate its feasibility.

Transient beam-loading in the main linac is an important performance issue for a Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) study. In order to keep the luminosity losses less than 1%, the rms bunch-to-bunch relative energy spread must be below 0.03%. Beam-loading model and a compensation scheme, which meet this requirement, have been recently developed for CLIC. In this paper we propose ways to confirm the feasibility of the compensation scheme experimentally in the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3). As a part of this study a CTF3-specific model to simulate an RF power production is developed and the corresponding numerical results are discussed

The proposed Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is based on a two-beam acceleration scheme. The energy needed to accelerate a low intensity “main” beam is provided by a high intensity, low energy “drive” beam. The precision and stability of the phase relation between two beams is crucial for the performance of the scheme. The tolerable phase jitter is 0.2 deg rms at 12 GHz. For this reason it is fundamental to understand the main possible causes of the drive beam timing jitter. Experimental work aimed at such understanding was done in the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) where a drive beam with characteristics similar to the CLIC one is produced. Several phase measurements allowed us to conclude that the main source of phase jitter is energy jitter of the beam transformed and amplified into phase jitter when passing through a magnetic chicane. This conclusion is supported by measurements done with different momentum compaction values in the chicane. In this paper the results of these several phase measurements will be presented and compared with expectations.

The CLIC damping rings should produce the ultra-low emittance necessary for the high luminosity performance of the collider. This combined to the high bunch charge present a number of beam dynamics and technical challenges for the rings. Lattice studies have been focused on low emittance cells with optics that reduce the effect Intra-beam scattering. The final beam emittance is reached with the help of super-conducting damping wigglers. Results from recent simulations and prototype measurements are presented, including a detailed absorption scheme design. Collective effects such as electron cloud and fast ion instability can severely limit the performance and mitigation techniques have been identified and tested. Tolerances for alignment and technical system design such as kickers, RF cavities, magnets and vacuum have been finally established., Proceedings of the 1st International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2010, Kyoto, Japan

The objective of the CLIC Test Facility CTF3 is to demonstrate the key feasibility issues of the CLIC two-beam technology: the efficient generation of a very high current drive beam and its stable deceleration in 12 GHz resonant structures, to produce high-power RF pulses and accelerate the main beam with an accelerating gradient of 100 MV/m. The construction and commissioning of CTF3 has taken place in stages from 2003. Many milestones had already been reached, including the first demonstration at the end of 2009 of a factor 2 x 4 re-combination of the initial drive beam pulse, thus reaching a beam current of 25 A. In this paper we summarise the commissioning highlights and the issues already validated at the earlier stages. We then show and discuss the latest results obtained, in view of the completion of the CLIC feasibility demonstration due for the end of 2010., Proceedings of the 1st International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2010, Kyoto, Japan

A setup for the investigation of Coherent Diffraction Radiation (CDR) from a conducting screen as a tool for non-invasive longitudinal electron beam profile diagnostics has been designed and installed in the Combiner Ring Measurement (CRM) line of the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3, CERN). In this report the status of the monitor development and results on the interferometric measurements of CDR spectra are presented. The CDR signal correlation with an RF pickup and a streak camera is reported. The future plans for the system improvements are also discussed., Proceedings of the 1st International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2010, Kyoto, Japan

The aim of the latest CLIC test facility CTF3, built at CERN by an international collaboration, is to prove the main feasibility issues of the CLIC two-beam acceleration technology. Several of the main goals have been already achieved in the past years, like the full-loading linac operation mode and the delay loop principle. During 2008 also the combiner ring concept has been experimentally proven and the recombined beam has been used to generate the RF power. In parallel in the fall of the year also the probe beam line commissioning had started.

An efficient RF to beam energy transfer in the accelerating structures of the drive beam is one of the key points of the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) RF power source. For this, the structures are fully beam-loaded, i.e. the accelerating gradient is nearly zero at the downstream end of each structure. In this way, about 96 % of the RF energy can be transferred to the beam. To demonstrate this mode of operation, 1.5 ..s long beam pulses are accelerated in six fully loaded structures in the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) Linac. The final beam energy is compared to the input RF power of the structures, proving the efficient energy transfer.