The production of dense lead-ion beams for the CERN LHC

To reach the design luminosity for lead-ions in the LHC, the present Low-En ergy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) has to be converted into a Low-Energy Ion Ring (LEIR). Since the present ECR lead-ion source does not provide sufficient i ntensity, the main goal of LEIR is to act as a low-energy (4.2 MeV/u) accum ulator where the ion beam is stacked and cooled (with the help of an electr on-cooler) to reach the required intensity and emittances. An experimental program has been carried out at LEAR in recent years in order to test the c ooling and stacking process with the present electron-cooler. A variety of results have been reported at previous conferences. This paper will focus o n the electron-cooling aspects resulting from the afore mentioned experimen ts. Taking into account the experience gained, some guidelines will be give n concerning the future LEIR machine and the electron-cooling device(s) tha t will be needed to produce cold dense electron beams. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.