Parallel plate chambers for monitoring the profiles of high-intensity pulsed antiproton beams

Two types of beam profile monitor with thin parallel-plate electrodes have been used in experiments carried out at the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) and Antiproton Decelerator (AD) of CERN. The detectors were used to measure non-destructively the spatial profiles, absolute intensities, and time structures of 100–300-ns-long beam pulses containing between 107 and 109 antiprotons. The first of these monitors was a parallel plate ionization chamber operated at gas pressure P=65 mbar. The other was a secondary electron emission detector, and was operated in the ultra-high vacuum of the AD. Both designs may be useful in medical and commercial applications. The position-sensitive electrodes in these detectors were manufactured by a novel method in which a laser trimmer was used to cut strip patterns on metallized polyester foils.