STATUS OF PXIE MEBT ABSORBER DEVELOPMENT

One of the goals of the Project X Injector Experiment (PXIE) (1) at Fermilab is to demonstrate the capability to form an arbitrary bunch pattern from an initially CW 162.5 MHz H- bunch train coming out of an RFQ. The bunch-by-bunch selection will be taking place in the 2.1 MeV Medium Energy Beam Transport (MEBT) by directing the undesired bunches onto an absorber that needs to withstand a beam power of up to 21 kW, focused onto a spot with a ~2 mm rms radius. A ¼ - size prototype of the absorber was manufactured, and its thermal properties are being tested with an electron beam generating a peak power density similar to the one expected during normal operation of the PXIE beam line. The paper describes the absorber concept, the prototype, the testing procedure with the electron beam, and the latest results.