Magnetic Horn

special poer supply for magnetic horn (antiproton target)

operated pulsed, very high current

responsible: Isfried Petzenhäuser

From Technical Design Report, Antiprotonen-Target, section 2.9.11.2.1:

A magnetic horn will be used as p collector. The mechanical assembly of the magnetic horn operated presently at CERN is illustrated in Figure 2.9-17. It can be seen, that a single turn current loop is formed between the exit of the (inner) bi-conical horn (current input) and the outer aluminum alloy wall of the mechanical body. The circular magnetic field is generated inside this loop by a 400 kA pulse of 35 μs duration. There is no field inside the horn. The material of the horn is an Al-Mg alloy, the wall thickness is 3 to 4 mm. It should be as small as possible in order to avoid noticeable p annihilation.

The schematic of the pulsed power converter is illustrated in Figure 2.9-18. The capacitor bank and ignitron switches have to be installed near the horn location. There are 72 transmission cables from the switches to the junction box close to the magnetic horn. This large number is necessary to reduce the inductance of the system and hence reducing the voltage to reasonable values. With respect to the good experience with magnetic horn collectors at CERN, the principles of this technical solution should be envisaged for the FAIR p source.