A pulsed and flattopped 24 kG · m beam switching magnet system

A pulsed and flattopped switching magnet system has been developed for time sharing of the 12.5 GeV proton beam of the zero gradient synchrotron (ZGS) at Argonne National Laboratory. When pulsing this magnet during a 0.5 s long slow ejected beam spill of the ZGS to one experimental area, this spill is interrupted three times and the beam deflected 3° 10\´ to a bubble chamber experiment. The system is capable of repeating a flattop within ±0.005% for time periods ranging from a few μs to many ms. This is accomplished by charging the magnet in an LCR circuit to the desired field value, then "crowbarring" the magnet and holding the field constant with an energy source in the crowbar.