A Possible Low-Energy Positron Source At Jefferson Lab

Jefferson Lab is interested in the production of positrons for nuclear physics applications but also has the capability of producing low energy positrons that could be used for positron annihilation studies. Using the LERF accelerator at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, it is possible to produce a high brightness source of very low-energy positrons. The accelerator requirements are well within the capabilities of the installed hardware. For these experiments, we only need run at up to 120 MeV. A challenge is the production of the positrons. The gamma converter must be able to absorb the 50 kW of beam power that the linac delivers. At this low an energy, the converter, though challenging, is feasible. The transport of the low energy positrons from the production target to the next stage, where the energy is reduced even further, must have a very large acceptance to be able to efficiently transport the flux of positrons from the positron production target to the moderator. We propose to accomplish such a transport by means of a guiding solenoidal field with a novel endcap design. Finally, it is in principle possible to produce a spin polarized beam by filtering the positrons at low energy. The layout of the proposed device will be described in this presentation.