The Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) has been installed at Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (LNL), Italy. In this installation, AGATA will consist, at the beginning, of 13 AGATA triple clusters (ATCs) with an angular coverage of 1π, and progressively the number of ATCs will increase up to a 2π angular coverage. This setup will exploit both stable and radioactive ion beams delivered by the Tandem–PIAVE-ALPI accelerator complex and the SPES facility. The new implementation of AGATA at LNL will be used in two different configurations, firstly one coupled to the PRISMA large-acceptance magnetic spectrometer and lately a second one at Zero Degrees, along the beam line. These two configurations will allow us to cover a broad physics program, using different reaction mechanisms, such as Coulomb excitation, fusion-evaporation, transfer and fission at energies close to the Coulomb barrier. These setups have been designed to be coupled with a large variety of complementary detectors such as charged particle detectors, neutron detectors, heavy-ion detectors, high-energy γ-ray arrays, cryogenic and gasjet targets and the plunger device for lifetime measurements. We present in this paper the conceptual design, characteristics and performance figures of this implementation of AGATA at LNL.

At Legnaro National Laboratories of INFN is under construction a Rare Isotope Facility called "Selective Production of Exotic Species" (SPES) based on a 35-70 MeV proton cyclotron, able to deliver two beams with a total current up to 0.75 mA, an ISOL fission target station and an existing ALPI superconducting accelerator as a post accelerator (up to 10 MeV/u for A/q=7). The paper will cover notably: the high-resolution mass separator, the CW RFQ (80 MHz, 727 keV/u, with internal bunching), the 1+ low energy transfer line and the injection line from Charge Breeder to ALPI under installation.

During 2018, the PIAVE superconducting linac injector at INFN-LNL, based on superconducting RFQs and two cryomodules with quarter wave resonators, underwent a renovation plan. This operation was strictly related to the one carried out on ALPI [1], which will become a post-accelerator for both stable and exotic beams in a near future. PIAVE Quarter Wave Resonator (QWR) cryomodules, in operation since 2006, were moved to ALPI to be used for the acceleration of both stable beams and future exotic beams delivered from the cyclotron target-ion-source station, after appropriate purification, charge breeding and pre-acceleration stages. In order to cope with the removal of the two QWR cryomodules in PIAVE, a newly designed 80 MHz room temperature buncher was designed, built and tested: the buncher is required so as to match the longitudinal phase space between PIAVE superconducting RFQs (SRFQ1 and SRFQ2) and ALPI. In the same period, substantial refurbishments on the ECR ion source platform were carried out, in particular on its infrastructure and safety equipment. A problem on an electronic component on SRFQ2, though quickly fixed, delayed beam commissioning of the PIAVE injector, which will start at the end of May 2019.

The ALPI linac at INFN-LNL was substantially refurbished in 2018, especially in view of its use as secondary accelerator for exotic species in the framework of the SPES project. In particular: 10 magnetic triplets were replaced with higher gradient ones; two cryomodules with quarter wave resonator were moved from the PIAVE injector to ALPI, so as to make them available both for exotic and stable beams; the cryogenic plant was renovated; the whole linac, its injector and its beam lines were eventually realigned via LASER tracking (LT). The expected outcome of the refurbishment project is a larger beam transmission (crucial for the efficient transport of the unavoidably low current exotic beams) and improved overall reliability so as to further extend the lifetime of an already 25 years old machine. The hardware commissioning of this new configuration will be reported.

Superconducting RFQs (SRFQs), the first SC RFQs ever made operational for users, have been operated on the PIAVE SC heavy ion linac injector at INFN-Legnaro since 2006. The structure is split into two resonators and is limited to the accelerating RFQ sections. The resonators had never exceeded 80% of the design accelerating fields. In 2015, an upgrade plan started, aimed at increasing the accelerating fields, while improving their slow and fast tuning systems, repairing degraded components, implementing a LASER alignment method. The upgrade plan was successfully concluded in summer 2017. The resonators were kept stably locked for days at a field larger than the nominal one. Eventually, a test beam was accelerated successfully for 72 hours, with negligible locking issues. SRFQs entered once again routine operation in December 2017. The new features will allow to accelerate heavy ions with an A/q value as high as 8.5 (versus a former maximum A/q=7.5), allowing operation of the very first accelerated uranium beams at INFN-LNL, after the related authorizations shall have been issued.

SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) is an ISOL type facility for production and post-acceleration of exotic nuclei for forefront research in nuclear physics. Radioactive (RA) species (A = 80÷160) will be produced by fissions induced by a proton beam impinging on an UCx target: the proton beam will be delivered by a commercial cyclotron with a 40 MeV maximum energy and a 0.25 mA maximum current. The RA species, extracted from the Target-Ion-Source system as a 1+ beam, will be cooled in a RFQ (radiofrequency quadrupole) beam cooler (RFQ-BC) and purified from the isobars contaminants through a High Resolution Mass Separator (HRMS). Post-acceleration will be performed via an ECR-based charge breeder, delivering the obtained q+ RA beam to a being built CW RFQ and to the being upgraded superconducting (sc) linac ALPI (up to 10 MeV/A for a mass-to-charge ratio A/q = 7).

The cryogenic systems of both accelerators, namely HIE ISOLDE (High Intensity and Energy Isotope Separator On Line DEvice) at CERN and ALPI (Acceleratore Lineare Per Ioni) at LNL, have been refurbished. HIE ISOLDE is a major upgrade of the existing ISOLDE facilities, which required the construction of a superconducting linear accelerator consisting of six cryomodules, each containing five superconductive RF cavities and superconducting solenoids. The ALPI linear accelerator, similar to HIE ISOLDE, is located at Legnaro National Laboratories (LNL) and became operational in the early 90’s. It is composed of 74 superconducting RF cavities, assembled inside 22 cryostats. The new control systems are equipped with PLC, developed on the CERN UNICOS framework, which include Schneider and Siemens PLCs and various fieldbuses (Profibus DP and PA, WorldFIP). The control systems were developed in synergy between CERN and LNL in order to build, effectively and with an optimized use of resources, control systems allowing to enhance ease of operation, maintainability, and long-term availability. This paper describes (i) the cryogenic systems, with special focus on the design of the control systems hardware and software, (ii) the strategy adopted in order to achieve a synergic approach, and (iii) the commissioning results after the cool-down to 4.5 K of the cryomodules.

SPES, a new accelerator facility for both the production of exotic ion beams and radio pharmaceuticals, is presently being installed at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro in Italy (LNL). The new cyclotron, which will provide high intensity proton beams for the production of the rare isotopes, has been installed and is now in the commissioning phase. We present here the status of the part of the project devoted to the production and acceleration of fission fragments created in the interaction of an intense proton beam on a production target of UCx. The expected SPES radioactive beams intensities, their quality and their maximum energies (up to 11 MeV/A for A=130) will permit to perform forefront research in nuclear structure and nuclear dynamics far from the stability valley. Another low energy section of the facility is foreseen for new and challenging research, both in the nuclear physics and in the material science frameworks.

INFN-LNL is constructing an ISOL (Isotope Separation On Line) facility delivering neutron rich ion beams at 10AMeV or beyond, making use of the linear accelerator ALPI as the secondary accelerator. The facility includes a direct ISOL target based on UCx and able to reach 1013fissions/s. In parallel, an applied physics facility will be developed, with applications in medicine and neutron production. The SPES project is a national facility, approved and funded. Commissioning with the first exotic species is expected in 2019. The primary accelerator is a commercial cyclotron, which will send a 40MeV, 200μA proton beam onto an UCx target, connected to SIS, PIS and LIS ion sources. The extracted beam is purified through a Low Resolution Mass Separator (LMRS, i.e. a Wien filter and a dispersive dipole), a beam cooler and a High Resolution Mass Separator (HRMS) and sent to an ECR charge breeder to boost the exotic beam charge state. The highly charged exotic beam is further separated in a MRMS (Medium Resolution Mass Separator) and injected into a 100% duty cycle RFQ and into the existing superconducting linac ALPI, which will be refurbished and upgraded to be an efficient exotic beam accelerator. The upgrade of ALPI will give ∼10AMeV energy to 132Sn19+, taken as the reference ion beam. The paper presents the status of the design and construction of the SPES facility.

The SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) project for a national exotic beam facility in Legnaro includes pivotal upgrades of the existing superconducting linac ALPI (Acceleratore Lineare Per Ioni), to make it appropriate as the RIB (Radioactive Ion Beam) accelerator. The new injector, consisting of an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR)-type charge breeder and a radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ), will be described. Upgrade measures in ALPI to improve beam transmission and final energy, and handle low-intensity RIB will be explained, with the aim of increasing transmission to T > 90%, Ef by ~ 20%, reaching 10 MeV/u for the reference beam 132Sn.

The low-beta section of the ALPI linac at Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro is being upgraded in order to double its energy gain from about 10 MV to 20 MV. This upgrade, performed with a rather limited investment in the background of the standard accelerator activities, is based on the replacement of some rf system components and minor modifications to the cryostats. The cavities, working at 80 MHz, require a 3 dB rf bandwidth of 15 Hz (obtained by means of strong overcoupling) to be locked in the presence of the large Helium pressure fluctuations of ALPI. Their average gradient, although exceeding 6 MV/m at the nominal 7 W power, is presently kept around 3 MV/m during operation, limited by the maximum available rf power in the linac. The ongoing upgrade requires the modification of all low-beta cryomodules to allow new, liquid Nitrogen cooled rf couplers and new, 1 kW amplifiers. A fully equipped prototype cryostat with four, beta=0.047 QWRs has been constructed and tested on line, and operated at 6 MV/m reaching or exceeding all design goals.

PIAVE-ALPI is the INFN-LNL superconducting heavy ion linac, composed by an SRFQ (superconducting RFQ) section and three QWR sections for a total of 80 cavities installed and an equivalent voltage exceeding 70 MV. In the last years the SRFQ and the bulk niobium QWR came into routine operation, the medium energy QWR section was upgraded with a new Nb sputtered coating, ECR source was firstly improved by using water cooled plasma chamber and then replaced with a new one. The operation of the accelerator complex allowed acquiring a strong experience on many operational issues related to ECRIS, superconducting cavities and cryogenics, beam control and manipulation (with the new and higher accelerating gradient). The paper reports about operational experience, the present limitations and the future perspectives of the facility in view of the experimental campaign with the EU detector AGATA and of the use of PIAVE ALPI as RIB post-accelerator for SPES radioactive ion beam facility.

The operation of ALPI at INFN-LNL allowed acquiring more than a decade of experience on the operational issues of quarter wave resonators (QWRs), built with the three technologies of Pb/Cu electroplating , Nb/Cu sputtering and full Nb. More recently, with the commissioning of the superconducting injector PIAVE, a 2-year long operational experience with superconducting RFQs was acquired. The paper reports off and on line performances of all INFN-LNL superconducting resonators and the most relevant issues in their setup for reliable accelerator operation. Future perspectives, opened by the experimental campaign with the EU detector AGATA and by the proposed use of ALPI as the radioactive nuclei beam (RNB) accelerator of the SPES facility, are discussed.

At INFN-LNL the commissioning of the injector PIAVE, based on superconducting (SC) RFQs, has been completed. All the superconducting cavities (two RFQs and 8 quarter wave resonators – QWR) have shown very satisfactory stability with respect to changes of the liquid helium pressure and to microphonics. Beam parameters are very close to the nominal values. The commissioning was completed by accelerating the pilot beam 16 O 3+ with the PIAVE injector and the booster linac ALPI (summer 2005). Since December 2005, a number of test beams were accelerated (mainly noble gas species) with PIAVE and ALPI and delivered to user experimental stations. Regular operation will be scheduled from fall 2006 onwards.

At INFN-Legnaro the heavy ion injector PIAVE, based on two superconducting RFQ and eight quarter wave resonators (QWR), is at an advanced stage of beam commissioning. The RFQs (SRFQ1 and SRFQ2), built in full Nb within a stiffening Ti jacket, are 0.8 m in diameter and 1.4 and 0.8 m long respectively, with a resonant frequency of 80 MHz. The PIAVE beam is bunched by a normal conducting 3-harmonic buncher upstream the SRFQs. The SRFQs are specified to work at a peak surface field of 25.5 MV/m, a value which was exceeded in the test phase and has been recently confirmed in on-line tests. Phase and amplitude locking, versus both microphonics and pressure variations of the liquid helium bath, is the main issue. Since November 2004, the two SRFQs have been used quite extensively, for beam acceleration tests in PIAVE, showing a high degree of reliability. A 16 O 3+ pilot beam, received from an ECR ion source located on a high voltage platform, was used in the tests. The typical ion beam current was a few hundreds nA, even though it could be raised up to a few μA without any inconveniences. Beam tests with 132 Xe 18+ were made too. The paper reports the more recent results of on-line SRFQ tests and beam operation. Keywords RFQ Heavy ion linac Commissioning Superconducting RF 1 Introduction The tandem-ALPI heavy ion accelerator complex has been completed with a positive ion injector (PIAVE [1] ), featuring as accelerating structures two SRFQs and eight QWRs [2] , all in full Nb. In contrast to the XTU-tandem, PIAVE is able to feed the booster ALPI also with heavy ion species (up to U), delivered by an ECR ion source. Since November 2004, beam tests were carried out first of all through the SRFQs and later through the entire injector. A beam of 16 O 3+ , from the ECR ion source on a high voltage platform, was used for the tests (a current of ∼1–3 mA was typically available from the source). As expected, the energy output of PIAVE was 20.8 MeV. The measured transverse emittance was 0.1–0.15 mm mrad, to be compared to an expected value of 0.1 mm mrad. The recorded longitudinal emittance is still a factor 4 higher than the theoretical value (2 vs. 0.5 keV ns/A), but we suspect that instrumental errors still bear a non-negligible contribution, which is being eliminated. Beam transmission, between 85% and 100% in the cavity-free regions, turns out to be as high as 68% in the 3H-buncher [2] -to-SRFQ section (expected value 70%). Fig. 1 shows a photo of the compact PIAVE injector. The present paper is dedicated to the operation of SRFQ elements, core of the PIAVE injector, being their design construction and laboratory tests described in Refs. [3–6] . SRFQ1 and SRFQ2 are the first superconducting RFQ structures ever built for being put in regular beam operation. Their construction and operation went through many technological challenges, which were overcome in the test phase, such as end-plate RF joints [5] , gaseous He removal by the hollow electrodes [7] and others. The last critical issues could be focused only after assembling the resonators in the on-line cryostat: (1) To reach the specified accelerating field at the reference power dissipation ( P d ∼ 10 W), in the on-line cryostat. (2) To keep the SRFQs frequencies locked to the master oscillator, by compensating • the changes of the cavity volume due to drifts of the liquid He pressure (phenomenon with a time scale of seconds), • environmental vibrations, inducing oscillations of the SRFQ resonant frequency in a ms time scale. Locking tests were extensively performed during off-line tests [5] , but the real operational conditions could be faced only after assembling the resonators in the line cryostat and connecting it to the actual refrigeration system. (3) To find an accurate and fast method for setting the relative phase between the SRFQs and the phases of the bunching structures. (4) To check the SRFQ beam alignment, in cold conditions, with respect to the beam line and to verify the effect of misalignment on beam transport. 2 Q -Curves: reaching the SRFQS specifications The SRFQs main parameters are listed in Table 1 . At the maximum peak surface field of 25.5 MV/m (the design value, which was overcome since the off-line tests), the inter-electrode voltages of SRFQ1 and SRFQ2 are 148 and 280 kV respectively, values which are significantly higher than those achieved by typical normal conducting RFQs. The stored energy of the SRFQs is acceptably low for reasonable SEL phase-amplitude stabilization circuits [8] . Being the RFQ mostly a focusing structure, with a small on-axis component of the electric field, the ratio E a / E s,p is particularly low, with respect to other s.c. cavity types, i.e. 1 10 and 1 7.33 for the two resonators, respectively. Hence the design values of the accelerating field are limited to 2.4 and 3.4 MV/m for SRFQ1 and SRFQ2, respectively. In Fig. 2 , the Q vs. E a curves for the two SRFQ structures are shown. In order to reach these performances, each SRFQ underwent bake-out, at ∼350 K, for about 30 h. Keeping the intermediate shields at 77 K, resonant field emission (RFE) was processed in 24 h, while residual RFE low level processing (up to E a = 0.32 MV/m for SRFQ1 and E a = 0.85 MV/m for SRFQ2) required a few more hours. In addition, both cavities have always shown a very last RFE level at E a ∼ 0.9–1.2 MV/m: to overcome this level and to He-process non resonant field emission (FE) 2 h and 9 h for SRFQ1 and SRFQ2 were respectively required. The on-line Q -curves are lowered by the presence of VCX fast tuners [9] , which provide frequency control, with respect to the 80 MHz master oscillator, in a window of ±40 Hz (SRFQ1) and ±100 Hz (SRFQ2). The VCX fast tuners dissipate their power in a liquid nitrogen bath. The liquid He consumption was measured at 4 K, while the cryogenic system was set in the He-to-recovery configuration, confirming the Q -values of the old off-line curves. 3 On-line phase and amplitude stability In SRFQs, phase and amplitude locking is strongly linked to the pressure change rate of the liquid He bath. The resonators are equipped with slow mechanical tuners and VCX fast tuners. The liquid He pressure change, which has a time scale of seconds, induces frequency shifts which must be counteracted by the mechanical tuners. Each cavity features two tuners, one per end-plate: one is used to increase the frequency, the other to decrease it. The overall tuning range is ±100 kHz. When any of the tuners reaches the range limit, the direction of motion of both is reversed. The mechanical tuners are able to keep up with frequency changes of the resonator smaller than 2–3 Hz/s (mechanical limit), which corresponds to a threshold in Δ P /Δ t ∼ 3–4 mb/min. Moreover, the mechanical tuners, when moving, tend to excite mechanical vibrations in the large drum-like end-plates. While the latter are typically well compensated for by the VCX fast tuners, a relevant optimization work on the refrigeration plant proved to be necessary, in order to reduce the fluctuations of P He , which were initially as high as 30 mb/min, below the mentioned threshold (3–4 mbar/min). 3.1 Limiting He-pressure fluctuations in the refrigerator Both the overall pressure excursions and the rate of pressure change in the SRFQ cryostat were significantly reduced in September–October 2004. This objective was reached: • through a careful setup of the parameters controlling the opening of the cryostat valves, which had to be operated in a continuous filling mode, • keeping the liquid He level constant, by compensating the rf thermal load with a heater in the dewar or, conversely, by increasing the liquid helium production rate. Two compensation setups were implemented, one for the SRFQ cryostat operating alone and one for the three PIAVE cryostats operating together. Figs. 3 and 4 show the result of this optimization process. In Fig. 3 , the variation of the liquid He pressure in the SRFQ cryostat, in a typical working day in June 2004, is shown. Fig. 4 reports an equivalent graph, obtained one year later after the optimization of the refrigerator parameters. As can be seen, both the overall pressure excursions and the maximum values of Δ P /Δ t were significantly decreased. The latter went from more than 30 mb/min to below 2 mb/min, i.e. below the threshold of effective performance of the mechanical tuners. 3.2 Stability performance In the refrigerator conditions shown in Fig. 4 , it was much easier to maintain phase and amplitude lock of each resonator to the master oscillator than was reported earlier [10] for conditions similar to those of Fig. 3 . Figs. 5 and 6 show the phase and amplitude errors of SRFQ1 and SRFQ2, respectively. While in SRFQ2, the VCX fast tuner of which offers a resonant frequency control range of 200 Hz, locking is stable, on SRFQ1, the VCX range of which is 80 Hz, a few jumps of the phase error over a 5 h recording time can still be noted. In nearly all cases, a phase error jump in SRFQ1 coincides with the movement of a slow tuning end-plate, which is moved inward or outward in small steps, depending on the sign of the phase correction required. As mentioned above, it is believed that the stepwise motion induces vibrations on the drum-like end-plate itself, resulting in a short unlock of the cavity phase. This mechanical vibration is damped in a few hundreds ms, as could be observed by a digital oscilloscope. The frequency window of the SRFQ1 VCX must be increased and we plan to do this in the first planned injector stop. However, a few unlocking events can hardly be noted in most nuclear physics experiments; for those few experiments in which this might be a problem, one can plan to inhibit data acquisition during an unlock event. 4 Setup of the relative phase between SRFQ1 and SRFQ2 The relative phase between the two SRFQs can only be set, by looking at beam output energy and beam transmission. We accelerated a beam of 16 O 3+ (PIAVE pilot beam), coming from the Alice ECRIS on the 350 kV platform. Once a proper phase and amplitude stability has been achieved, the two SRFQs can be prepared for beam acceleration. A split SRFQ (two resonators) with additional external bunching requires proper phasing of these three elements. We proceeded in the following way: • Field amplitudes of SRFQs and 3-harmonic buncher were set according to the computed values. • The external buncher was kept off and the relative phase between SRFQ1 and SRFQ2 was found, looking at expected energy gain and beam transmission. • When the proper value of phase between SRFQ1 and SRFQ2 was found, the buncher was switched on and its phase scanned, looking for maximum transmission. The beam output energy was measured through elastic scattering of accelerated ions from a thin Au foil into a Si detector, located at a 25° angle from the beam axis. Fig. 7 shows the expected beam output energy and transmission vs. the phase difference between the two resonators. The transmission is shown in the same graph. In Fig. 8 , the beam energy curve of Fig. 7 (red line in Fig. 8 ) is compared with the experimental values, which reproduce the theoretical curve rather well. The optimum phase difference is marked by the dashed line in both graphs. Optimization of field and phase of the 3-harmonic buncher increases then the overall transmission from 30% to 68% (70% being the computed value). 5 Alignment tolerances The computed SRFQs alignment specifications are better than 0.2 mm on all Cartesian axes, so as not to spoil beam transmission: this holds true for both the alignment between the two SRFQs and between them and the injection line. Once the beam was correctly accelerated, we decided to purposely and stepwise misalign the quadrupole doublet in front of the SRFQs between +1.2 and −1.2 mm and look at beam transmission, so as to check the computed alignment tolerances experimentally. Fig. 9 shows the result of the purposely made misalignment on the vertical axis: it can be seen that, as long as the misalignment is smaller than ±0.2 mm, beam transmission is very marginally affected by that (a few percent only). Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the skilful contribution of the technicians of INFN-LNL, in particular M. De Lazzari and F. Carletto (vacuum system), O. Carletto (VCX fast tuners), E. Bissiato and S. Marigo (mechanics). References [1] A. Pisent, in: Proc. of the Eight Int Conf on Heavy Ion Accelerator Technology, Argonne (IL, USA), October 1998, p. 214. [2] A. Facco, F. Scarpa, V. Zviagintsev, in: Proc. of the Eight Int Conf on Heavy Ion Accelerator Technology, Argonne (IL, USA), October 1998, p. 185. [3] G. Bisoffi et al., in: Proc. of the Eight Int Conf on Heavy Ion Accelerator Technology, Argonne (IL, USA), October 1998, p. 173. [4] G. Bisoffi et al., in: Proc. of EPAC 2000, Vienna, June 2000, p. 324. [5] G. Bisoffi et al., in: Proc. of EPAC 2002, Paris, June 2002, p. 266. [6] G. Bisoffi et al., in: Proc. of the 11th Workshop on Rf-Superconductivity, Lübeck, Travemünde (Germany), September 2003. [7] A. Lombardi et al., in: Proc. of the 1999 Particle Accelerator Conference, New York (USA), May 1999, p. 1324. [8] J.R. Delayen G.J. Dick J.E. Mercereau IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. NS-24 3 1977 1759 [9] V. Andreev et al., in: Proc. of EPAC 2000, Vienna, June 2000, p. 2013. [10] G. Bisoffi et al., in: Proc. of LINAC 2004, Lübeck (Germany), August 2004, p. 623.

The Positive Ion Accelerator for low-Velocity Ions (PIAVE [1], see Fig. 1), based on superconducting RFQs (SRFQs), has been completed in Fall 2004 with the first acceleration of beams from the ECR ion source. Superconducting RFQs were used, for the first time, for beam acceleration on a user-oriented accelerator complex. A general status of the injector performances is here given: it includes, besides the SRFQs, eight superconducting (SC) Quarter Wave Resonators (QWRs) and three bunchers; the beam is received from an ECR source on a HV platform and is delivered, through the SC accelerator ALPI, to nuclear physics experimental apparatuses. The paper is specially focused on the technological challenges related to the operation of the SC cavities, the cryogenics, control, diagnostics and vacuum systems.

Two superconducting (sc) RFQ's (SRFQ1 and SRFQ2, resonating at 80 MHz, 0.8 m in diameter and 1.34 m and 0.74 m long), were mounted in their common cryostat and connected to the TCF50 refrigerator in the linac building. The SRFQs follow an ECR source on a 350 kV platform and external bunching, and precede 8 sc quarter wave resonators. They are the very low velocity accelerating structures of the new heavy ion injector PIAVE [1], which will soon expand the mass range of accelerated projectiles at INFN-Legnaro up to the heaviest ones. After thorough “off-line” resonator testing was completed and dealt with on previous publications (Esp,n> 25.5 MV/m – the design value, Q-values between 5 and 8 x10, stability issues in He-to-recovery mode), this paper describes the very first on-line results. THE BUMBY ROAD TOWARDS BEAM

The ALPI SC linac at INFN-LNL is being constantly upgraded in terms of maximum beam energy (Ef) and current, made available for experiments. Presently, a liquid-N cooling scheme is being applied to the RF power couplers of the 16 full Nb resonators, to keep them locked at 5 MV/m, vs. present 3 MV/m. A further upgrade of the 44 “medium beta section” cavities, changing the cavity Cu substrates, was prototyped and is reported at this conference: however it is not fully funded yet and is extremely time-consuming. A cost-effective Ef upgrade is proposed here: to move 2 SC buncher cryostats, which house a single working SC QWR but were designed for 4, at the end of ALPI, equipping them with 4 Nb/Cu QWRs each (new bunchers would either be NC QWRs or a single SC cavity cryostat). The contribution of these cryostats to Ef would be extremely effective: e.g. a Ef~10 MeV/A (Ibeam≥ 1 pnA) Pb beam, a very attractive tool for the nuclear physics community, is achievable. A being performed upgrade of ALPI cryoplant, expected to increase the refrigeration capability by ~25%, makes this change possible today. Details of this solution, as well as its limits, will be presented and discussed