Feedback control of the longitudinal and transverse electron beam profiles are considered to be critical for beam control in accelerators. In the feedback scheme, the longitudinal or transverse beam profile is measured and compared to a desired profile to give an error estimate. The error is then used to act on the appropriate actuators to correct the profile. The role of the transverse feedback is to steer the beam in a particular trajectory, known as the “orbit.” The common approach for orbit correction is based on approximately inverting the response matrix, and in the best case, involves regulating or filtering the singular values. In the current contribution, a more systematic and structured way of handling orbit correction is introduced giving robustness against uncertainties in the response matrix. Moreover, the input bounds are treated to avoid violating the limits of the corrector currents. The concept of the robust orbit correction has been successfully tested at the SwissFEL injector test facility. In the SwissFEL machine, a photo-injector laser system extracts electrons from a cathode and a similar robust control method is developed for the longitudinal feedback control of the current profile of the electron bunch. The method manipulates the angles of the crystals in the laser system to produce a desired charge distribution over the electron bunch length. This approach paves the way towards automation of laser pulse stacking.

• Received 3 February 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.052802

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Published by the American Physical Society