Beam size measurements based on movable quadrupolar pick-ups

Abstract

Quadrupolar pick-ups (PU) have been widely studied as candidates for non-intercepting beam size and emittance measurements. However, their application has been proven to be limited. Two fundamental factors make quadrupolar measurements exceptionally challenging: first, the low quadrupolar sensitivity of PUs and second, the parasitic position signal incorporated into the measured quadrupolar measurement. In this paper, an alignment technique, based on movable PUs, is proposed to efficiently cancel the parasitic position signal. Tests have been performed using PUs embedded in collimators in the Large Hadron Collider. Beam measurements demonstrate promising results.