Diamond crystals for H^- injection

There are several advantages in using a crystal for stripping of the H^- ion to obtain efficient injection of protons into a circular accelerator. First, the stripping efficiency of a crystal is at least as large as for an amorphous foil of the same substance and thickness. Second, the emittance increase imposed by the multiple Coulomb scattering of the protons on subsequent turns is drastically lower by a factor of up to ≃7. Third, the restricted energy loss of the protons is lower by a factor of up to ≃1.5—this, combined with the fact that the thermal conductivity of a single crystal of diamond is much higher than that of the amorphous material, will reduce the effect of heating of the stripping material. In high-power schemes based on amorphous foils heating of the electron stripping material is a limiting factor. Fourth, the reduced total energy loss is accompanied by a smaller energy loss straggling implying a smaller longitudinal emittance. Last, the so-called random orientation of the crystal can provide the option of stripping the H^- ions as in an amorphous foil while preserving the advantage of a high thermal conductivity, simply by changing the orientation of the crystal. A simulation using realistic parameters is presented, which reflects the efficient conservation of emittance using a diamond crystal. The phenomenon should in fact be applicable in general for the stripping of H^-, although the advantages depend on parameters such as the energy. A reasonable figure of merit is the ratio of the total transverse emittance increase of crystalline and amorphous foils in one turn and in the presented case this is as high as a factor 3.9.