today, I installed a laser dump just before the telescope to avoid any high power (50W instead of 17W usually) issue in the injection line.
last time, we saw some plastic mounts of the polarizers slightly burnt because of some small misalignment.
I used a thorlabs LB2 (see picture) which is able to manage 80W CW or 25J/cm2 pulses => this is OK in both cases : 50W CW / 1.5µJ/pulse for ThomX.

I started the laser amplifier at 70% which produces 50W at the amplifier output and 45W at the input of the FPC.

start : 15h10
immediately, the Temp Amp1 increases from 26°C to 30°C
the Temp Amp2 stays around 26°C
PD_OUT = 79,2W

start + 5-10 min
Temp Amp1 : 31°C
Temp Amp2 : 27°C
PD_OUT = 79,2W

start + 30 min
Temp Amp1 : 31,6°C
Temp Amp2 : 27,5°C
PD_OUT = 79,2W

start + 1h00
Temp Amp1 : 31,6°C
Temp Amp2 : 27,6°C
PD_OUT = 79,2W

start + 1h30
Temp Amp1 : 31,7°C
Temp Amp2 : 27,7°C
PD_OUT = 79,2W

start + 2h00
Temp Amp1 : 31,7°C
Temp Amp2 : 27,7°C
PD_OUT = 79,2W

start + 2h30
Temp Amp1 : 31,7°C
Temp Amp2 : 27,7°C
PD_OUT = 79,2W

Today, the lock of the FPC was particularly bad (maybe the worst ever seen), with a lot of high frequency noise.
the lock was impossible during several minutes !

we tried to switch off all the equipments of the machine, one by one without any effect on the lock.

at the end, we looked at the accelerometer installed inside the housing to check if there was some correlation.
and for the 1st time we clearly saw a 100% correlation beween the accelerometer signal with a noise oscillating above +/-300mV
but we didn't find the origin of this noise.

At the end of the day, we found out what was the origin of this noise : some road renovation work with jackhammer and road roller just at the entrance of the "Igloo".

this origin was 100% correlated with a large increase of the accelerometer signal.
but we clearly saw that the FPC is much more sensitive than the accelerometer... the signal can have a small increase or just one peak and the cavity lock is lost.

then, we can make the assumption that all the "high frequency noise" which produces some lock losses could come from acoustic noise due to the road traffic or from the equipments in the bunker itself.

After this observation, we did a test with Daniele to try to correlate the road traffic in front of the Igloo with the lock losses observed on the FPC.
We didn't see any clear correlation. Cars or buses are not the direct origin of the FPC lock losses... only when some heavy load is hitting the building, we observed a clear correlation.

So, we still observed a lot of FPC lock losses when the day is windy... 
One possible cause could be the large door of the igloo (~20 m²) hitting the Igloo when the day is windy.
I installed the accelerometer on the rail on the bottom of the large door to see if there is any correlation.

we did some tests with Marie to make some vibrations on the door.
below, I exhibit some pictures of the scope with the accelerometer plugged on it without or with noise...
this level of noise is not able to make the FPC loosing the lock.
even when saturating the noise signal on the accelerometer, the FPC is not loosing the lock all the time.

then, when a day is very windy, it's possible it could have some effect, but for a normal day, it's seems very doubtful that is the reason...

This morning, I installed a high-voltage probe (1:1000) on the AC-line to see if one could detect a correlation between lock losses and AC-line voltage variations.

I observed many lock losses but without any variation or correlation of the AC-line signal (scope set in "peak detect" with "envelope" arithmetics).

see attached figure.

since several days, we see that the locking is more and more unstable and the lock duration was sometime less than 20-30 seconds !

1) I tried to optimize the feedback loops

I discovered that the gain on the fast loop on the laser EOM was very low and was almost uneffective for the global stability of the lock (I can remove the cable of the HV to EOM and it does not change the stability of the signals).
when I tried to increase this loop gain in open loop for the PZT loop, I clearly saw an improvement of the transmission signal stored in the cavity.
but when I close the PZT loop, it does not help to get a better locking.
so, at the end, I cancel this loop gain (HV amplifier for the EOM is OFF !) and only the slow feedback loop on the PZT is working.

I reduced the by a factor 2 the range on the PZT loop side to reduce the noise due to the amplified Laselock (voltage divider 1/2 before the HV amp for the PZT).
and I switched off the laser motor controller (Smaract MCS).
after optmization of the PID parameters, I was able to get back the 90kW we had in the past for 33% laser amp ratio and with a very good stability :
the transmission signal is a line and the reflection signal is almost a line too.
in this condition, I seems that I can lock the laser and the FPC indefinitely.

2) issue with Smaract controller

I put back the Smaract controller only for the CEP channel => one can clearly see a bit more noise on the PDH signal but the transmssion and the reflection signal stay almost the same with a very good stability.

then, I put back the Smaract controller for both channels (CEP and laser cavity length) => the lock was very bad, even after a PID optimization despite the fact it was a "Low Vibration" (LV) Smaract MCS controller.

we tried to change the 3-channels LV controller by a standard 3-channels (not LV) spare controller => it was OK for the CEP channel but not good at all the laser cavity length channel => very noisy.
so, we kept this standard controller for the CEP channel and we took 1-channel LV spare controller for the laser cavity length channel => it was ok. no more additionnal noise and we can work without delock in piezo-scan mode.

important parameters :
I used 1ms for hold time in the Smaract controller configuration.
I used 1V/s in piezo scan mode for the speed => it does affect the noise level when the piezo is moved !

3) IP Smaract controller parameters :

I used the MCSNetworkInterfaceConfig.exe software to configure both IP addresses of the 2 controllers.
it's easy, one just has to choose the options.

the IP address for controller ruling the laser cavity length is : 192.168.1.200:5000
the IP address for controller ruling the CEP is : 192.168.1.201:5000

4) final long run test

We did a 1/2h run test to check how many lock loss one gets... see the picture.
we had some few lock losses (with the RF feedback lock ON too) but most of the time, the RF phase was not lost and the X-rays should be continued to be produced.
a test should be done tomorrow.

yesterday, in the same conditions, we had so many locking issues... exactly in the same way than before. :-(
so we still have "locking issues" depending on something we didn't find...

today, we removed the "1/2 voltage divider" before the PZT amplifier to get back the full dynamic.
we have a little bit more noise and we lose some power on transmission (85kW instead of 90kW) but it worked pretty well.
we had quite long X-rays runs ~ 20 minutes without any lock losses => see the picture.

but we have to keep in mind that maybe it was just a "good" day and an another day can be "bad".
we still have to understand where do these perturbations come from.

the good news is we brought back the previous setting of the FPC.

to anticipate the power shut down on next tuesday 23/09,
this afternoon, I switched off all the equipments except the oscillator connected on the UPS.

this morning, I restarted all the equipments of the FPC.

everything was fine after being able to get back the correct PDH phase between modulation and demodulation...I got 88kW with 33% amplifier ratio after basic alignment and CEP tuning.

the Pico1 server used for the X-ray photodiode TMD.01 doesn't want to start...
I tried with Astor. the server start to run (red => blue => green colors)
but when I start the Jive panel, it gets down again (red color)... to be solved

the 33MHz/500MHz RF frequencies from the Ring seems different from the previous state (maybe working at an energy of 50MeV instead of 70MeV which was the previous energy ?).

so, I let the FPC at the present position and wait to discuss if it is necessary or not to move the FPC motors for the correct energy...

This morning I did a phase alignment on the PDH signal generator (Rigol DG4102)
this procedure ensure that both phases of the sine wave signals are aligned before finding the correct phase for maximizing the error signal.

so, from now on, in case of power shut down, one just need to :

1) do a phase alignment

2) put the correct phase number on the 2 channels according to the picture (if not automatically done by the generator itself).

340° on channel 1
270° on channel 2

1) and 2) can be done in any order.

with Daniele, we placed the accelerometer on top of the fiber amplifier box which is inside the housing.
the goal was to try to detect a correlation with some possible accoustic noise coming from the bubbles of the water, cooling the amplifier box baseplate.

we monitored a long trend of the transmission which is perturbated when high frequency noise arises, and the accelerometer signal.
the long trend plots only the peak-peak value of a full 1 second acquisition every 2 seconds during ~2500 pts equivalent to ~5000 seconds = 1h20

on the plot, the top white signal is the transmission pk-pk and the bottom red signal is the accelerometer pk-pk.
we don't see any correlation except at 600-700 pts because Daniele entered the bunker and slightly knock on the bottom of the optical table several times.
and at 1950-2300 pts, because he opened the housing (much more noise recorded by the accelerometer) and then it close it again.

he also try to knock on the amplifier controller rack which is placed on the ground, below the table, but he didn't see any correlation with some cavity lock losses.

=> no clear conclusion.
except that the noise seen on the transmission when the housing is open is close to the "high frequency noise" we observe... could it be some accoustic noise coming from elsewhere ?

today, with Daniele, we did a simple polarization measurement in transmission of the FP cavity beam.

1) we locked the FP cavity and measured 82.5kw (for 33% amplifier ratio) with the power-meter moved a little bit further (this is maybe the reason why the power is a little bit lower than usually measured).

2) then, we installed a high power PBS CCM1-PBS25-1064-HP(/M) with a transmission of 89% of the P-polarization @ 1030nm
We measured 66.5kW in transmission of the cube.

3) then we installed a half waveplate to find the optimum angle => 77kW measured at an angle of 342°
(almost no power has been observed in the vertical polarization state of the PBS).

Then we rotated the waveplate to find the previous measurement => 66.5kW at an angle of 348°
(we checked that adding the waveplate in the path almost does not change the measured power)

Conclusions :
- the FP cavity polarization is almost horizontal (P-polarization) and linear (77kW ~ 89%*82.5kW)
- the angle of the polarization is roughly 2*(348-342)° = 12°

This morning, all the equipments have been switched off due to a power shut down tomorrow morning.
Only the Onefive oscillator is still ON, connected to the Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS).

after alignment, CEP adjustment and optimizing the PDH phase, I got back ~92kW in the FPC for 33% amplifier ratio.

I restarted the FPC system this morning.

after some classic alignement procedure (some LEFT steps on the cavity injection motors X & Y) and CEP tuning,
I got 92kW for 33% amplifier ratio.

the cavity was not particularely misaligned...

then I did a long run at 90kW with both feedbacks ON without any problem.

The laser start at 33% with 92 KW optimized and

P=0.03

I=0.0005

I2=0

D=0.5

But we have more and more problems with the alignement from a day to another!!!

We start the machine and we do Xrays again.

The lock is easy and stable, we see some hig fraq perturbations but no delock as yesterday.

ATTENTION!!!!! when one switch ON or OFF the hexapode motors we have big delock like what we observed some time during the operation!!!!!

For the big delock we have to investigate the operation of the hexapode!!

We have changed the orbit and obtained almost 40000 Xrays. with an ebeam dimension of 121 µm rms.

And now I go in Hollydays!!

See you after 15 august

Daniele

Today we do XRays for experiment.

The laser start to 33% at 93 KW but Pgain = 0.033

The laser is locked so stable for the moment. We have Xrays and the system is stable.

I have started a trend of laser power.

Some high freq perturbations are visibles but no delock.

It's clear that when the charge vary a lot in the ring we see more high frq perturbations!!

Each time we inject electrons we see high freq pert!!! But the delock are rare!

When electrons are lost we see high freq perturbations!!

New PID parameters

P=0.03

I=0.0005

I2=0

D=0.5

Axe18=+0.0016014

We have done a vertical scan and de e-beam seem to be very very large!! >1mm

The e-beam is not well adjusted but the lock is really much better!

We do good measurement of X fluorescence spectrum of Prostate, ThomX is becoming more and more interesting Xrays source!!

Daniele

We continue to find what gives high freq. perturbation.

The laser starts at 92 KW it is stable and locked to the RF. NO high freq parturbation.... With the machine off. (30 min of lock)

We put now the machine ON (All in warming exept pulsed elements)... => the system is very stable NO delock, NO high freq perturbations. The operator can even go to toilet during the operation... it's a very big improvement!!! 

Now we continue with the e-beam production.... => when we put ON the Kikers wtih the rest of the machine (no electrons yet) some perturbations are observed and delock also.... but no really high freq perturbations juste very big 20 Hz like ones (at 10h30). Some people oh PERLE are in the igloo now. In any case it was easy to relock and it is very stable now.

10h50 some 40 Hz perturbation and delock.... and very big 20 Hz perturbations.... some delock arrived but not really high freq.

!!!!!!! PERLE PEOPLE MOVES LE PONT SINCE 10H30!!!!! CORRESPONDING TO DELOCK!!!

That means that the system is stable with all the maching On (but NO electrons).

So in the afternoon we will put the electrons and continue the investigation of stability.

I restart the laser after lunch with electrons in the machine. I have lost 7 KW of power.... and the lock parameter changed (P gain 0.05-> 0.03)

Je vois passer des hautes freq!! J'ai retrouvé 92 KW avec l'alignement qui avait bougé visiblement!! But the PID parameters are still 0.03.

I see a little bit Hig frq perturb but the laser dont delock. Also bigger high freq perturbation with delock. electrons effect or alignement problems??

We change the frequency for 50MeV. Delta freq = 3.6kHz so dela cavity lenght -1.1mm

We have electrons and we lock much better than before to add the amplifier to enlarge PID range.

We observe some high freq perturbations but the PID compensate and we have almost no delock!!

In conclusion: high freq perturbations dont come from the machine without electrons. The presence of the electrons is associated to some high frq perturbations but the new feedback system can compensate them and delock are rare but we have some with electrons.

Globaly the system is much better

Daniele

The laser starts at 93 KW.

This morning I operated the laser locked with the RF for 1h30 without any delock. All the machine was switch off.

All the system was very stable. Sometimes the 20 Hz perturbation was visible but no delocking.

In the afternoon I switched ON just the kikers and septum (with the Kikers delay of not giving perturbation for the synchro -8.561) and I do the same thing => The situation is exactely the same, all the system is very stable (but 20 Hz perturbations). NO deloking during 1h.

I change the delay between Kikers to -7.561 => exactely the same situation, all is very stable!!!!

In 3h of synchronized operation, NO delock at all with or without Kikers!!!

Conclusion no effect at all when juste pulsed element are switched ON.

Daniele

Today with Daniele, we tuned the potentiometer after the Laselock which drives the analog BW of the PID on the laser PZT,
and we tuned also the fast loop gain (with the rotary potentiometer dedicated to it) => the PID parameters have changed.

so, the recipies has changed => to be updated

the global observation with the x3 amplifier on the laser PZT channel, is the system is more noisy.
the maximum power for 33% amp ratio is now ~93kW instead of 97-98kW.

we tried this afternoon to do a long run with the RF and the FPC loops activated, but it seams that a lot of high frequency noise is present.
is it coming from the new parameters feedback setup or because of the electron machine which is ON ?

With optical attenuation only

For ~ 92kW power in the FP-cavity:

• Alplhanov amplifier ratio : 33%
   
• Axis 18 position : +0003768 steps
   
• PID A (for laser/FPC lock) :

input : input a
P = 0.1
I = 0.0015
D = 1.5
Sign : positive
Sampling : fast
filter : off

• Search A :

criterion : input d
upper th. : 10V
lower th. : 0.05V
speed : 100V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output A :

range : 50%
offset : 5V

• PID B (for RF/FPC lock) :

input : input b
P = 5
I = 0.0001
D = 1
Sign : negative
Sampling : mid
filter : off

• Search B :

criterion : input c
upper th. : 0.45V
lower th. : -0.45V
speed : 1V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output B :

range : 20%
offset : 5V

With optical attenuation + x3 amplifier on laser PZT channel + feedback tuning

Temporary recipie for  ~ 92kW power in the FP-cavity:
(in the previous scheme, without x3 laser PZT amp, a good lock was achieved for a PDH signal power noise ~ 70 mV rms)

• Alplhanov amplifier ratio : 34%
   
• Axis 18 position : +0016956 steps
   
• PID A (for laser/FPC lock) :

input : input a
P = 0.04
I = 0.0005
D = 0.48
Sign : positive
Sampling : fast
filter : off

• Search A :

criterion : input d
upper th. : 10V
lower th. : 0.03V
speed : 100V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : reset

• Output A :

range : 50%
offset : 5V

• PID B (for RF/FPC lock) :

input : input b
P = 1
I = 0.00005
D = 1
Sign : positive
Sampling : mid
filter : off

• Search B :

criterion : input c
upper th. : +0.4V
lower th. : -0.45V
speed : 1V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : reset

• Output B :

range : 50%
offset : 5V

this afternoon, I added the Gain = 2.8 amplifier at the output of the Laselock to drive the laser PZT.
the power supply of the board is disymetric to address the correct maximal dynamic range of the amplifier (~ 30V) and voltage drop (~ 2V) related to the power supply voltage.
so, the power supply is set to -2V / 32V which gives roughly 0-28V of dynamic range at the ouput for 0-10V at the input.

despite the additionnal noise added by the amplifier, we are able to lock easily, and reach ~ 93kW in the FPC for 33% amplifier ratio.
obviously, as the dynamic range of this PZT has been multiplied by ~3, it is much more comfortable to operate the motors.
but the overall stability seems a bit degraded... to be checked, as finding the right PID + fast loop gain is not easy.

=> to be done tomorow.

Today with Daniele, we did 6 long runs at different power (23kW, 46kW, 66kW, 73kW, 92kW, 92kW)

All the lock loss in between these several runs are due to FPC locking parameters change.
most of the few lock losses during the stable power duration, are due to 20Hz oscillation noise or because we forgot to center properly the PZT in its range (operator faults).

the 4 first runs (23kW, 46kW, 66kW, 73kW) are using the PID : (P=0.1 / I=0.0015 / D=1.5) without the additionnal optical attenuator placed after the diffuser.

the 5th run (92kW) is using the PID : (P=0.1 / I=0.0015 / D=1.5) with the additionnal optical attenuator placed after the diffuser.

the 6th run (92kW) is using the PID : (P=0.05 / I=0.0005 / D=0.6) and obviously a different diffuser position) with the additionnal optical attenuator placed after the diffuser.

surprisingly, we never saw any high frequency noise during the day !

to be noticed : the electron machine was OFF / the day was sunny without wind / almost nobody was working in the bunker.

today, long run directly at full power (33% amplifier ratio) => 98kW in the FPC at the very begining of the run.
(P=0.05 / I=0.0005 / D=0.6)

10-40 min : almost misalignment effect (CEP did not change so much)
                   I increased 3 times the amplifier ratio to 34%, 35%, 36% to compensate the misalignment and keep the power almost constant.

then I did a full tuning (CEP + alignment)

45-110 min : misalignment effect after ~30min of warming up of the FPC => much more stable.
                    I corrected twice (@ 85min) the alignment to compensate a bit the power loss

globally, the FPC seems stable => all the lock losses come from the 20Hz noise and are recovered very quicly by the locking.
I never saw the high frequency noise which can produce long lock losses.

maybe it's time to add the gain x3 on the laser PZT channel to get some room on the 20Hz noise compensation.

Today we did several long runs (~1h each) at ~23kW, 46kW, 66kW with different PID parameters which seems better.

P = 0.1
I  = 0.0015
D = 1.5

which implies a different fast loop gain.
For these new PID parameters, it was impossible to use 33% amplifier ratio => to much power on the PID at the diffuser limit (axis 18).
so, we added a NE02 optical attenuator on the mobile diffuser => we can't use the old recipies anymore.

For ~ 46kW power in the FP-cavity:

• Alplhanov amplifier ratio : 20%
   
• Axis 18 position : -0004710 steps
   
• PID A (for laser/FPC lock) :

input : input a
P = 0.06
I = 0.0007
D = 0.85
Sign : positive
Sampling : fast
filter : off

• Search A :

criterion : input d
upper th. : 10V
lower th. : 0.04V
speed : 100V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output A :

range : 50%
offset : 5V

• PID B (for RF/FPC lock) :

input : input b
P = 3
I = 0.00002
D = 2
Sign : negative
Sampling : mid
filter : off

• Search B :

criterion : input c
upper th. : 0.45V
lower th. : -0.45V
speed : 1V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output B :

range : 20%
offset : 5V

For ~ 23kW power in the FP-cavity:

• Alplhanov amplifier ratio : 15%
   
• Axis 18 position : -0016014 steps
   
• PID A (for laser/FPC lock) :

input : input a
P = 0.1
I = 0.0016
D = 1.4
Sign : positive
Sampling : fast
filter : off

• Search A :

criterion : input d
upper th. : 10V
lower th. : 0.03V
speed : 100V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output A :

range : 50%
offset : 5V

• PID B (for RF/FPC lock) :

input : input b
P = 5
I = 0.0001
D = 1
Sign : negative
Sampling : mid
filter : off

• Search B :

criterion : input c
upper th. : 0.45V
lower th. : -0.45V
speed : 1V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output B :

range : 20%
offset : 5V

For ~ 66kW power in the FP-cavity:

• Alplhanov amplifier ratio : 25%
   
• Axis 18 position : +0018369 steps
   
• PID A (for laser/FPC lock) :

input : input a
P = 0.1
I = 0.0016
D = 1.4
Sign : positive
Sampling : fast
filter : off

• Search A :

criterion : input d
upper th. : 10V
lower th. : 0.03V
speed : 100V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output A :

range : 50%
offset : 5V

• PID B (for RF/FPC lock) :

input : input b
P = 5
I = 0.0001
D = 1
Sign : negative
Sampling : mid
filter : off

• Search B :

criterion : input c
upper th. : 0.45V
lower th. : -0.45V
speed : 1V/s
relock mode : none
off mode : hold

• Output B :

range : 20%
offset : 5V

the RF frequency changed from 500.1003MHz to 500.0913MHz => it reduced by 9kHz @ 500MHz which is equivalent to 600Hz @ 33MHz (we measured 500Hz @ 33MHz). the electron orbit length increased, so we have to increase the cavities length => increase motor values by ~ 68µm.

for the laser cavity : 1.496 560 mm => 1.564 560 mm

the initial values for the motor of the FP cavity are : MOT.03=-130 000 steps and MOT.06=-900 000 steps.
68µm is roughly 11 000 steps (6nm/step) => MOT.03=-130 000 steps and MOT.06=-889 000 steps.

optimum CEP position : -210.8µm => -192µm

I got 80kW in the FP cavity after CEP and walking alignment
then, 82kW after waiting 3h.
then, 84kW after waiting 5h.

at the begining of the day, we started to get ~81kW in the FPC for 33% amplifier ratio and after ~1h, we got 84kW after CEP and alignment tuning.
at the end of the day, we got 89kW without walking alignment.

we tried to improve a bit the robustness of the FPC and RF locks:
see the capture for the new locking parameters.

today with Alice, we planned to do a long run with ~80kW in the FPC to check if the lock problems are coming from the interaction with the machine or not.
the goal is to check this assumption on a full day comparable with a day of X-ray production.

we started the amplifier at 10am.

during a move of MaY (injection mirrors of the FPC), we observed a sudden total loss of resonances...
the reason was an abnormal displacement of the motor despite the fact the measured position was reasonable.
we already observed an issue like that....
to fix the problem, one just had to move back MaY.

the cavity started to be locked at 11:15am

the RF frequency has been changed to 500.09595MHz equivalent to 33.33973MHz
but we don't have a beating signal @ 500MHz => one will ask to Vincent to fix the issue.

laser motor CH0 : 1.503453 mm
laser moror CH2 : - 50µm

~ 83kW at 12:30pm

we observed that :

- the MOT.03 motor always exhibits some perturbations on the transmitted, reflected and PZT signals (see "peaks" in the picture) in contrary to the MOT.06 motor.
does the differences come from the motor relative positions (-900 000 steps for MOT.06 and -100 000 steps for MOT.03) or from the controller configuration ?

- the stability limits (oscillations arise) of the PID for the RF/CFP locks are P = 1 / I = 0.0001 / D = 5
then we put the new PID parameters : P = 0.25 / I = 0.000025 / D = 1

- the 20Hz oscillations are stil arising from time to time

- the lock laser/CFP is pretty robust, one observes more RF/CFP lock losses.

- we removed the 250Hz filter on the RF/CFP error signal to increase the feedback BW but we didn't see a any improvement

- at 5pm, the laser/CFP lock seems as stable as in the morning, then we don't see any change in stability during time.

we loggued CFP power measurement and signals from the cavity (~ 1GB of data)

last thing we tried :

we removed the threshold on the FPC/RF error signal.
=> we cannot choose automatically the RF bucket anymore (we need to manually let the phase drift slowly and start the lock at the right moment).
=> but the FPC/RF lock seems more robust.

in that case, we have 2 different sources of lock losses:
- the ones dues to the laser or CFP motors move.
even at low speed or in "piezo scan" mode, one observes too fast mouvement that are not properly compensated and involving some phase shift.
- the ones not related to any action.
=> the 20Hz signal seems to increase until it makes the system losing the lock

This morning, I added an amplifier on the 33MHz beating signal in between the mixer+LPF and the scope/Laselock.

it seems to improve the robustness of the RF/FPC lock.

because of this gain, I increased the upper and lower thresholds on the search criterion of the RF/FPC lock from +/-50mV to +250mV/-200mV

=> see the picture of the Laselock parameters.

the optimum phase for X-ray production is roughly +3.6ns between C2 (machine trigger) and C4 (33MHz laser signal).

we have to use the machine at 70MeV with a new frequency at 500.0325MHz / 33.3355MHz.

=> we need to move the FPC tomorrow by roughly 60kHz @ 500MHz.

major result of the day: X-ray vertical scan by moving the hexapod

abscise : hexapod position
ordinate : xray flux in asynchronous condition

red curve : continuous injection at 10Hz (the scan lasts for ~5 minutes)
green curve : one single injection (the beam is not extracted).
blue curve : one single injection, ~ 10-15 minutes later

this morning, Kevin reduced the steering current in the IcePap controllers of the FP cavity motors.

the motor MOT.06 was producing a pattern in the Transmission signal when it was moved and doing a lock loss very often.
so, we changed its current from 0.8A to 0.4A and it fixes the problem => no more systematic lock loss.

so, we changed also the MOT.03 steering current from 0.8A to 0.7A.
on this motor, we have also a false warning about the Low limit switch which seems to be activated (strange because, we are always using it in the positive direction)
Kevin reverted the logic to remove the message.

we obtained 91kW in the FPC for 33% amplifier ratio after CEP and alignment tuning.

we did synchronized xray production with a relative delay between laser 33MHz and trigger (CH2-CH4) of +4 ns

this morning, I restarted the cavity after the Christmas shutdown.
everything went fine.

I got ~ 86kW for 33% laser amplifier ratio after optimization of the CEP and alignment with walking procedure.

IcePap controllers are OK and the displacements (MOT.03 and MOT.06) let the CFP locked.

I locked also on the RF frequency (I tuned the laser and CFP cavity length) => +4.1ns (C2-C4) between the 10Hz trig (C2) and the 33MHz laser signal (C4)
I observed that the search & relock range on the regulator B plays an important role on the RF locking stability.
so, I increased the previous range +/-0.25V to +/-0.5V.
we have always the 20Hz noise which can be increasing some time but the lock seems more robust.

today we did x-rays => we got 41 000 pA at maximum and 90kW in the FPC for 33% amplifier ratio.

finally, I changed the strategy for the feeback on RF.
i removed the integration and derivative parameters and reduced the gain parameter :

P=0.25 / I=D=0 => it seems to be more stable => less low frequency oscillations becoming larger and larger during a perturbation.

this morning, I restarted the lock of the CFP after almost 2 weeks without operation.
after quick alignment and CEP tuning, I got 88kW for 33% ratio for the laser amplifier.

the FPC seems pretty far from the RF frequency (2.8kHz @ 33MHz) but it's possible the present RF frequency has been tuned for 61.5 or 70MeV (the present FPC length is tuned for 50MeV).

Jean-Noel had to reinject some SF6 gas in the section pipe => it immediately produces some lock losses during the whole filling process and even several minutes after he finishes.
this is an interesting correlation with the vibrations from the beam pipe => one needs to install the accelerometer to check the behavior.
but the lock losses were not related to "high frequency" or "20Hz oscillations" noises which are the 2 main processes for lock losses, it was just like some "cuts" in the signals.

I finally got 90kW in the FPC for 33% ratio for the laser amplifier after walking alignment procedure.

this morning, the cavity was pretty misaligned => basic alignment in y direction helps a lot => 93kW for 33% amp ratio.

the Rigol 33MHz generator phase was adjusted : phase ch2 = phase ch1 (40 deg) + 36 deg = 76 deg.

today, the alignment of FP cavity was so bad that I tuned the 01 mode by error (CEP and alignment)...  insead of the 00 mode !!!
I was able to reach ~30kW and was limited at this value, so I used the camera to check what was happening and saw the 01 mode.

so, I moved the lock on a 00 mode and redid a full tuning (CEP and alignment).
I got ~93kW => ok

today, after 1 week of vacation, I was able to easily lock the cavity with 92kW with 33% amp ratio without too much optimizations (no walking alignment).

could it be related to the nice weather we got during this week ?
as in the past we observed more noise when the weather was changing and we had very difficult locking procedure after a simple weekend...

Today, I removed the NKT oscillator from the bunker to put it in the PLIC room.

I locked the FP cavity and obtained 97kW with 33% amplifier ratio, without any alignment, just by changing a little bit the CEP.

New locking parameters (I got 98kW for 33% amp ratio) :

Axis 18 position : +0009420
P = 0.05
I = 0.0005
D = 0.6

stability seems better than previous parameters.

We had a long run without any lock loss during ~1h with the 23kW recipie in the morning.
during the afternoon, we had some few lock losses but the FPC system was globally quiet and stable,
but at the end of the day, I observed more and more frequent high frequency noise which implies lock losses.

at the same time, Dalkia changed the temperature of the air flow in the bunker.
could it be the reason of the stability degradation or is it because the cavity is more unstable when hot ?

long run yesterday at relatively low power (~23kW) with double loop (FPC + RF) between 10am and 6pm

long run today at relatively nominal power (~90kW) with double loop (FPC + RF) between 13:30am and 6:30pm

list of possible causes of the high frequency noise which makes the system loosing the lock => to be checked.
(if you have some new idea, I will edit the post)

1- Laser
   1.1- vibrations on the laser box coming from the optical table / housing
   1.2- vibrations coming from the Smaract translation stages (Frep or CEP) inside the laser box
   1.3- pressure noise coming from the weather (the laser cavity is sealed) on the laser box

2- Amplifier
   2.1- vibrations coming from the fans in the controler crate
   2.2- vibrations coming from the chiller (water cooling cavitation)

3- Beam propagation
   3.1- vibration noise coming from the housing / the table
   3.2- vibration noise coming from the motors of the injection mirrors

4- Fabry-Perot cavity
   4.1- pressure noise on the cavity vessels coming from the weather/air cooling
   4.2- vibrations coming from the rust on the mechanics
   4.3- vibrations of the mirror mounts due to temperature related to cavity power
   4.4- vibrations coming from the electron ring mechanics
   4.5- "vacuum" index variation coming from local ionization due to the electron beam
   4.6- vibrations coming from the far position (related to the middle range) of some mounts and due to the spring of the translations stage.

5- Feedback system / Electronics / CEM
   5.1- CEM votage noise on the laser or FPC PZT's

4.3 - Vibrations of the mirror mounts due to temperature related to cavity power (the electrons machine is OFF)

1) to test this possible issue, we plan to make a run at low power in the FP-cavity, around 10kW, instead of ~90kW as usual.
for that, I will need to change the diffuser position on axis 18 to get the same error signal for the locking.
the initial axis 18 position is +11304

I used the Alphanov amplifier at its standard value : 33%

first, I did a step at 26kW in the FPC by tuning the CEP
at this power, I saw exactly the same kind of behavior with a sudden large high frequency noise which prevent the lock to run properly and which is impossible to compensate.
=> one just have to wait... until it becomes more stable.

then, I went to 13kW in the FPC by tuning the CEP.

• I did the same alignement optimisation than for high power to remove possible coupling to high order modes in the error signal
• I tuned the power in the FPC by changing the CEP => the equivalent LW of the cavity will be different => I got ~ 13kW
• I changed the diffuser position on axis 18 to -23079
• I tuned the PID parameters :

initial => final
P = 0.055 => 0.1
I = 0.0005 => 0.002
D = 0.6 => 1

I started to record a long trend of the FPC power => see attached picture

I still observed the ~20Hz noise and sometime some high frequency noise, but not at a level which prevents the locking system to work.
CONCLUSION :
at this power and with a larger LW (CEP is not optimized), the FPC seems much more stable without any lock loss during 1h !

2) then I will do a test by decreasing the Alphanov amplifier ratio to work at a lower input power but with an optimized CEP.
Now, I optimized the CEP and alignment and reduce the Alphanov amplifier ratio to 15% => 24kW power in the FPC.
on CH2, I got 60mV (when I got 250mV when I'm at 97kW in the FPC) => ratio ~ 4.2 => 97kW / 4,2 ~ 23 kW
I checked that the PID parameters are not over-valuated which can produce a power reduction and the CEP is optimum as well as the alignment.

Axis 18 position : -13188
PID parameters (P = 0.1 / I = 0.002 / D = 1.5)

I started to record a long trend of the FPC power => cf 2nd trend with gradually increasing of the power because of the drift of the CEP + feedback adjustments.

CONCLUSION :
at this power and with nominal LW (CEP is optimized), the FPC seems much more stable without any lock loss during 1h !

3) I found a stable position for FPC around 46kW

I used the recepie for 46kW => after some time, I observed a lot of high frequency noise which induces some lock loss.