Electro-optical technology applied to accelerator beam measurement and control

Recent improvements in optical components have provided another choice for signal processing for beam instrumentation and feedback. Signal transmission utilizing the low insertion loss of optical fibers has been attractive for years. Today optical amplifiers are available in several wavelength ranges. These amplifiers provide photon to photon gain, eliminating the need to down convert signals back to baseband for regenerative repeaters. New temperature stabilized fibers virtually eliminate transmission delay variation, a feature that can be critical for synchronizing distribution of timing signals. Optical attenuators, filters, couplers, and isolators are also readily available making signal processing similar to RF/microwave engineering. The author discusses these components and techniques while referring to a new optical storage ring that will be used to make a notch filter for bunched beam cooling in the Fermilab Tevatron.<
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