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    Integrating a Machine Protection System for High-Current Free Electron Lasers and Energy Recovery Linacs

    A fully integrated Machine Protection System (MPS) is critical to efficient commissioning and safe operation of all high-current accelerators. The MPS needs to monitor the status of all devices that could enter the beam path, the beam loss monitors (BLMs), magnet settings, beam dump status, etc. This information is then presented to the electron source controller, which must limit the beam power or shut down the beam completely. The MPS for the energy recovery linac (ERL) at the Jefferson Lab Free Electron Laser [1] generates eight different power limits, or beam modes, which are passed to the drive laser pulse controller (DLPC) (photocatode source controller). These range from no beam to nearly 2 megawatts of electron beam power. Automatic masking is used for the BLMs during low-power modes when one might be using beam viewers. The system also reviews the setup for the two different beamlines, the IR path or the UV path, and will allow or disallow operations based on magnet settings and valve positions. This paper will describe the approach taken for the JLab 10-kW FEL. Additional details can be found on our website http://laser.jlab.org [2].

    Author(s): Trent Allison, James Coleman, Richard Evans, Al Grippo, Kevin Jordan



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