  A capability to provide a large variety of bunch patterns is crucial for the
concept of the Project X serving MW-range beam to several experiments
simultaneously. This capability will be realized by the Medium Energy Beam
Transport's (MEBT) chopping system that will divert 80% of all bunches of the
initially 5mA, 2.1 MeV CW 162.5 MHz beam to an absorber according to a
pre-programmed bunch-by-bunch selection. Being considered one of the most
challenging components, the chopping system will be tested at the Project X
Injector Experiment (PXIE) facility that will be built at Fermilab as a
prototype of the Project X front end. The bunch deflection will be made by two
identical sets of travelling-wave kickers working in sync. Currently, two
versions of the kickers are being investigated: a helical 200 Ohm structure
with a switching-type 500 V driver and a planar 50 Ohm structure with a linear
250 V amplifier. This paper will describe the chopping system scheme and
functional specifications for the kickers, present results of electromagnetic
measurements of the models, discuss possible driver schemes, and show a
conceptual mechanical design.
