Operational Experience with the Superconducting High-Luminosity Insertion in the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR)

The eight superconducting quadrupoles and their cryogenic equipment for this insertion were installed in the ISR at the end of 1980. The insertion has been used to assess the problems of running a superconducting insertion in a storage ring as well as to provide high luminosity for physics. The luminosity is increased at intersection 8 by a factor of 7. By means of dedicated collimators and orbit corrections, safe working conditions could be established for the superconducting magnets during injection, accumulation, stable beam periods and when dumping the beams. Quenches were mainly caused by large accidental beam losses. Operating parameters for all standard beam energies, including acceleration to 31.4 GeV/c, have been established. At 26.6 GeV/c, with currents of 30.6 A in ring 1 and 30.3 A in ring 2, a luminosity of 1.4 1032 cm-2s-1 was obtained in the insertion. This is the highest luminosity reached so far in storage rings and it was obtained during a physics run. Satisfactory beam conditions could also be provided for antiproton physics at 26.6 GeV/c in ISR with both low-ß insertions on, in I1 and I8, respectively.