Skew quadrupole in RHIC dipole magnets at high fields

In the RHIC are dipoles, the center of the cold mass lies above the center of the cryostat. At the maximum design field, the magnetic flux lines leak through the yoke to the asymmetrically located cryostat, which provides an additional return path. This introduces a systematic top-bottom asymmetry leading to a skew quadrupole term at high fields. A similar asymmetry is also created by any difference in weights of the upper and the lower yoke halves. Data from measurements of several RHIC dipoles are presented to study this effect. In the current production series of the RHIC dipoles, an attempt is made to compensate the effect of the cryostat by an asymmetry in the iron yoke. Seven dipoles with this type of yoke have been cold tested, and show a reduced saturation in the skew quadrupole term, as expected.