Neutral Beam Injection for a Proton Storage Ring

The spallation neutron source at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory is to be upgraded with the addition of a high current Proton Storage Ring (PSR). This paper describes a novel charge changing injection technique that substantially simplifies the ring design. The method consists of converting the 800-MeV negative hydrogen (H-) ion beam from the linac to a 100% neutral hydrogen (Ho) beam having an acceptable emittance and drifting it directly onto the proton closed orbit in the ring. The neutralization is accomplished by electric field dissociation of the H- ions.