New method to measure the friction force of electron coolers in heavy-ion storage rings

摘要

We present a novel way to measure the friction force of an electron cooler in a heavy ion storage ring, which uses the counterforce provided by specially designed bunch potentials. Applying this method the friction force at small relative velocities between the electron and the ion beam has been determined with a 7.3 MeV beam of Be-9(+) ions at the Heidelberg Test Storage Ring. The results are compared to a measurement performed with an alternative counterforce method using an induction accelerator. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. [References: 13]