Estimation of the Ion Density in Accelerators using the Beam Transfer Function Technique

The ELSA stretcher ring of Bonn University serves external hadron physics experiments with a quasi continuous electron beam of up to 3.2 GeV energy. Ions, being generated by collisions of the circulating electrons with the residual gas molecules, accumulate inside the beam potential, causing incoherent tune shifts and coherent beam instabilities. Detailed measurements were carried out in which ion dynamics is studied in dependence of beam energy and current, filling patterns and bias voltages of the ion clearing electrodes. By measuring the beam transfer function using a broadband transversal kicker, we were able to derive an estimate of the average ion density from the shift and broadening of the tune peak. In this contribution first results of these measurements are presented.