Stand Alone TCSPC Module with USB 2.0 Interface PicoHarp 300 

Fill pattern diagnostics in synchrotron rings

Operating a synchrotron ring as a dedicated user facility demands to characterize the temporal shape of the electron bunches, the so-called "fill pattern". This is important for several reasons, including checking the quality of the injection system and the generation of special fill patterns for time-resolved experiments.

The PicoHarp 300 is very well suited for fill pattern diagnostics in synchrotron light sources. As opposed to conventional TCSPC systems that have a very limited TAC range, the PicoHarp 300 provides 65535 histogram channels. This is due to the unique design of the instrument based on high-resolution time to digital converters (TDC). Apart from diagnostics on the injection system it is mostly used in continuous system monitoring of the temporal bunch pattern and bunch purity. In this application channel 0 is typically used as a sync input (one revolution of the storage ring) and channel 1 is connected to a photon detector (typically APD or MCP-PMT).

Example of bunch purity measurement

Section of the regular BESSY II multibunch fill pattern recorded with the PicoHarp 300 using a time bin witdh of 64 ps.
Data collection: courtesy of Karsten Holldack, Bessy II, Germany.

The PicoHarp is currently used for fill pattern diagnostics at:

  • Bessy II (Berlin, Germany) - Arrow rightlive measurement results availableArrow left
  • Swiss Light Source (Villigen, Switzerland)
  • Diamond Light Source (Chilton, UK)
  • Australian Synchrotron (Clayton, Australia).
  • Taiwan Light Source (Hsinchu, Taiwan).

In collaboration with BESSY II we are now also offering a free LabVIEW Software for the PicoHarp300 acting as an EPICS Server for fill pattern monitoring. Please contact us for further details.

References:

  • Wu C.Y., Hu K.H., Chen J., Kuo C.H.,Hsu K.T., "Filling pattern measurement for the Taiwan Light Source", Proceedings of EPAC08, TUPC038
    available online at http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/AccelConf/e08/papers/tupc038.pdf
  • Thomas C. A., Rehm G., Owen H. L., Wyles N. G., Botchway S. W., Schlott V., Wahl M., "Bunch purity measurement for Diamond", Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, Vol.566, p.762-766 (2006)
  • Holldack K., v. Hartrott M., Hoeft F., Neitzke O., Bauch A., Wahl M., "Bunch Fill Pattern at BESSY monitored by Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting", Proc.SPIE, Vol. 6771, (2007)
  • Thomas C. A., Rehm G., "Time domain measurements at Diamond", DIPAC 2007 Workshop, Venice, Italy, May 20-23 (2007)

All Information given here is reliable to our best knowledge. However, no responsibility is assumed for possible inaccuracies or ommisions. Specifications and external appearences are subject to change without notice.back to top
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