CERN’s Linac4 H− sources: Status and operational results

Two volume sources equipped with DESY and CERN plasma generators and a low voltage electron dump were operated at 45 kV in the Linac4 tunnel and on a dedicated test stand. These volume sources delivered approximately 20 mA and ensured the commissioning of the Radio Frequency Quadrupole accelerator and of the first section of the Drift Tube Linac. CERN's prototype of a cesiated surface source equipped with this electron dump was operated continuously from November 2013 to April 2014 on the ion source test stand and is being commissioned in the Linac4 tunnel. Before cesiation, the prototype conditioned in volume mode provided up to 30 mA H- beam. Short cesiations, of the order of 10 mg effectively reduced the intensity of co-extracted electrons down to 2 - 8 times the H- current; this cesiated surface operation mode delivered up to 60 mA H- beam. An H- beam of the order of 40 mA was sustained up to four weeks operation with 500 mu s pulses at 1.2s spacing. A new extraction was designed to match these beam properties. A copy of BNL's magnetron produced at CERN was tested at BNL and delivered at 40 kV H- beam exceeding Linac4's nominal intensity of 80 mA. In this contribution, the performances, dynamic response to cesiation, stability and availability of these prototypes are described. The needed optimization of the emittance of H- beam above 40 mA is presented, which requires an evolution of the front end that encompasses implementation of a large ceramic insulator.