SARAF SUPERCONDUCTING MODULE COMMISSIONING STATUS

The accelerator at Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility (SARAF) is a 176 MHz linac, currently under commissioning at Soreq NRC. Phase I of the accelerator includes a Prototype Superconducting Module (PSM) containing 6 half wave resonators (HWR). PSM commissioning over the last year included: a. Pulsed RF and Helium processing, successfully reducing field emission. b. Extensive investigation of microphonics sources in the PSM, including a study of the piezoelectric and stepper motor tuning systems. c. Beam operation. A 2 mA pulsed proton beam has been accelerated by the resonators up to 3.7 MeV. Several diagnostic instruments were used to characterize the output beam.