In view of the unprecedented beam intensities expected in the High-Luminosity era of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), an upgrade of the LHC injection kickers (MKIs) is currently underway. This upgrade aims to mitigate excessive beam-induced heating of the MKIs and to limit resulting vacuum activity. The first MKI Cool was installed in the LHC during the Year End Technical Stop (YETS) in 2022-2023, and the upgrade of the entire system of 8 injection kickers is expected to be completed during Long Shutdown 3 (LS3). This paper discusses the operational performance of the new MKI Cool magnets and compares it to the magnets of the post-LS1 design. Additionally, it focuses on investigations aimed at understanding the observed results, with the goal of further enhancing the performance of the MKI Cool design.

The CERN-SPS beam dump system (SBDS) is equipped with a dilution kicker system, the so-called MKDH. During the 2022 and 2023 beam commissioning, the vacuum rise in the MKDH became a concern for reaching the anticipated higher beam intensities. Dedicated conditioning of the SPS kickers enabled successful attainment of High-Luminosity (HL) beam intensities during 2024 operation. However, the conditioning time required after replacing an MKDH magnet remains a significant concern, leading to a study aimed at optimizing its high intensity performance. This paper presents a feasibility assessment, a detailed characterization of the operational kickers and the spare units, and proposed modifications designed to optimize the MKDH kicker magnet performance. The modifications focus on minimizing interactions and coupling between the kicker and the beam, with the ultimate goal of improving the operational efficiency with high intensity beams.

Accelerator kicker magnets, which commonly use ferrite and other insulating materials, can encounter High Voltage (HV) performance limitations due to interactions with the particle beam. These interactions, can lead to electron cloud buildup and charging phenomena on exposed surfaces, negatively impacting kicker performance, particularly at high beam intensities. To mitigate these effects, surface treatment techniques are investigated to improve the HV kicker performance under such conditions. A dedicated set-up is under development to perform HV testing of treated surfaces in both ambient and in vacuum conditions, closely simulating operational conditions. This paper presents insights into the effects of these surface treatments on material properties, supporting strategies to enhance HV kicker reliability at higher beam intensities.