Installation of the Airix Induction Accelerator

The AIRIX flash X-Ray Radiographic facility will consist of a 3.5kA/4.0MeV/60ns injector and 64 induction cells powered by 32 H.V. generators (250 kV per cell). The induction cells studies made on the PIVAIR accelerator [1], which is the prototype of AIRIX, have allowed to design specific vacuum technology cells (ferrite are under vacuum). In this paper, we will present the technical features of the injector, and particularly the time-resolved energy measurement, the pepper-pot emittance measurement and the results of the three gradient method experiment which has been made by optical transition radiation and Cerenkov radiation observation. In a second part, we will present the design of the induction cells and their HV performances. We will see also the different tests and characterizations we make on each cell, and how we install the accelerator. Finally, we will expose the intermediate experiment we plan to do with the electron beam, after the first 16 cells, that are just installed. Those experiments will be a comparison between PIVAIR and AIRIX accelerators. They will allow to characterize the electron beam, and to optimize beam transport and beam centering procedures, before continuing the installation.