Beam Halo Monitoring at CDF

Abstract

Losses from the proton and antiproton beams of the Fermilab Tevatron have been shown to produce a halo which contribute to backgrounds to physics signals in the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). To provide a measure of the beam halo and losses, we have installed arrays of scintillation counters on both sides of the CDF detector. We describe here the physical configuration of these counters, their implementation and performance within the Fermilab Accelerator Control Network (ACNET). We show correlations between these new devices and the accelerator operating conditions. We point out that the use of these monitors is leading to improvement in the accelerator operations and reduced backgrounds in CDF.