Development of a low intensity current monitor system

This report documents the development of a current transformer system used to measure pulsed ion beam currents with a wide dynamic intensity range (nA to mA, and factor of 10{sup 6}). Peak beam currents at the LAMPF accelerator typically range from 100 to nA to 40 mA with pulse widths varying from 30 to 1000 {mu}s. Signal conditioning of the peak current output provides an average current readout with a range of 1 nA to 2 mA, noise of approximately {plus minus}0.5 nA, and accuracy of {plus minus}0.1%. Since the system has proved stable and highly reliable, calibration is performed yearly. The prototype unit was built in 1985 and the final production unit was completed in early 1989. 5 refs., 14 figs