The PSI meson target facility and its upgrade IMPACT-HIMB

Abstract

The high intensity proton accelerator complex (HIPA) at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) delivers a 590 MeV CW proton beam with currents up to 2.4 mA (1.4 MW). Besides two spallation targets for thermal/cold neutrons (SINQ) and for ultracold neutrons (UCN), the beam feeds two meson production targets Target M and Target E. The targets consist of graphite wheels of effective thickness 5 mm (M) and 40/60 mm (E). The target stations M and E are of quite different design; however, both of them rotate at 1 Hz to dissipate the heat (20 kW/mA for the 40 mm target E) efficiently. Recent progress was made by a new type of bearings and a new target geometry able to increase the rate of surface muons by up to 50 %. This is also foreseen for the upgrade of the target station M within the High Intensity Muon Beam (HIMB) initiative aiming to increase the surface muons available for experiment by two orders of magnitude. HIMB is part of IMPACT (Isotope and Muon Production with Advanced Cyclotron and Target Technology), an application for the Swiss Roadmap of Research Infrastructure.