Studies and Developments within the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment

The study of neutrino physics has developed significantly during the past decades. A neutrino factory promises unmatched precision in studies of the CP violating phase in neutrino oscillation. In addition the facility paves the path for other unique technologies, such as a muon collider. In order to construct such a facility a number of experiments must successfully demonstrate viability. The Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment(MICE) is one of these. To demonstrate successful cooling MICE contains a cooling cell sandwiched between instrumentation. A single particle measurement technique is adopted, where the emittance of each particle is measured using tracking Spectrometer Solenoids. The single particles are generated parasitically within the ISIS Synchrotron at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. This thesis has three topics, the first topic focuses on mechanical diagnostics for the MICE target, which ultimately allow an indirect friction measurement. The developed diagnostics are then applied to the quality assurance procedure, to ensure reliable targets are installed on ISIS. The next topic is the Tracker, which forms a central component of the spectrometer system. In order for the tracker to operate effectively, a system to synchronise the front end electronics gate to particle arrival has been built and tested. In addition a LED calibration system has been designed and installed. The final topic in this thesis contributes to the alignment of the MICE beamline, using a beam based alignment technique. The technique was capable of studying a number of quadrupoles and the TOF1 detectors alignment, using data collected by the TOF system.