H. Padamsee

Superconducting TESLA cavities

The conceptional design of the proposed linear electron-positron collider TESLA is based on 9-cell 1.3 GHz superconducting niobium cavities with an accelerating gradient of Eacc >= 25 MV/m at a quality factor Q0 > 5E+9. The design goal for the cavities of the TESLA Test Facility (TTF) linac was set to the more moderate value of Eacc >= 15 MV/m. In a first series of 27 industrially produced TTF cavities the average gradient at Q0 = 5E+9 was measured to be 20.1 +- 6.2 MV/m, excluding a few cavities suffering from serious fabrication or material defects. In the second production of 24 TTF cavities additional quality control measures were introduced, in particular an eddy-current scan to eliminate niobium sheets with foreign material inclusions and stringent prescriptions for carrying out the electron-beam welds. The average gradient of these cavities at Q0 = 5E+9 amounts to 25.0 +- 3.2 MV/m with the exception of one cavity suffering from a weld defect. Hence only a moderate improvement in production and preparation techniques will be needed to meet the ambitious TESLA goal with an adequate safety margin. In this paper we present a detailed description of the design, fabrication and preparation of the TESLA Test Facility cavities and their associated components and report on cavity performance in test cryostats and with electron beam in the TTF linac. The ongoing R&D towards higher gradients is briefly addressed.

Energy recovery linacs as synchrotron radiation sources (invited)

Practically all synchrotron x-ray sources to data are based on the use of storage rings to produce the high current electron (or positron) beams needed for synchrotron radiation (SR). The ultimate limitations on the quality of the electron beam, which are directly reflected in many of the most important characteristics of the SR beams, arise from the physics of equilibrium processes fundamental to the operation of storage rings. It is possible to produce electron beams with superior characteristics for SR via photoinjected electron sources and high-energy linacs; however, the energy consumption of such machines is prohibitive. This limitation can be overcome by the use of an energy recovery linac (ERL), which involves configuring the electron-beam path to use the same superconducting linac as a decelerator of the electron beam after SR production, thereby recovering the beam energy for acceleration of new electrons. ERLs have the potential to produce SR beams with brilliance, coherence, time structure, and source size and shape which are superior to even the best third-generation storage ring sources, while maintaining flexible machine operation and competitive costs. Here, we describe a project to produce a hard x-ray ERL SR source at Cornell University, with emphasis on the characteristics, promise, and challenges of such an ERL machine.

The science and technology of superconducting cavities for accelerators

Rapid advances in the performance of superconducting cavities have made RF superconductivity a key technology for accelerators that fulfil a variety of physics needs: high-energy particle physics, nuclear physics, neutron spallation sources and free-electron lasers. New applications are forthcoming for frontier high-energy physics accelerators, radioactive beams for nuclear astrophysics, next-generation light sources, intense proton accelerators for neutron and muon sources. There are now nearly one kilometre of superconducting cavities installed in accelerators around the world, providing more than 5 GV of acceleration. The most recent installation of 20 m for a free-electron laser realized an average gradient a factor of four higher than existing applications. Improved understanding of the physics of RF superconductivity, together with advances in technology, are responsible for the spectacular increases in performance. RF superconductivity is a mature science going well beyond technological know-how and trial-and-error approaches to genuine understanding of the underlying physics. Research continues to push performance levels towards the theoretical limit, which is another factor of two higher than the levels yet achieved.

Calculations for breakdown induced by "Large defects" in superconducting niobium cavities

A computer program has been written to model thermal magnetic breakdown. It incorporates all the heat production and heat transport factors. The temperature of the defect and vicinity is calculated for increasing rf field levels until the defect grows unstably, determining the breakdown field level. Calculations are performed for a variety of circumstances to explore the relative influence of the various heat production and heat transport factors.

Accelerating cavity development for the Cornell B-factory, CESR-B

To achieve luminosities of 30-100 times CESR, 1-2 A of current must be stored. A CESR B-factory parameter list calls for 50 MV for two rings, to be supplied by 16 cells operating at 10 MV/m gradient. With a new cell shape, the impedances of the dangerous higher order modes (HOM) are drastically reduced. All HOMs propagate out of the cavity via the beam pipe, which is specially shaped. This allows HOM power couplers to be placed completely outside the cryostat. A ferrite absorber on the beam pipe lowers all Qs to approximately 100, which is sufficient to avoid multibunch instabilities without feedback systems. A waveguide input coupler on the beam-pipe provides Qext as low as 5*10/sup 4/, with a C- slot shaped iris that has a negligible effect on the cavity loss parameter.<<ETX>>

Suppression of multipacting in rectangular coupler waveguides.

Although a rectangular waveguide coupler has the conceptual advantages of simplicity and capability of withstanding higher power, builders of modern superconducting accelerators are routinely choosing instead a coaxial coupler for its proven performance. Multipacting induced discharge has been found to be an operating mechanism that prevents a rectangular waveguide coupler from reaching its full potential. Earlier calculations predicted the existence of two-sided multipacting in a rectangular waveguide geometry. In the present study, special waveguide sections of CESR type were built and tested. Multipacting characteristics of the waveguide were identified. Two multipacting suppression methods, the slotted waveguide method and the DC magnetic bias method, were experimentally evaluated. The multipacting current is suppressed by a factor of more than 2 by opening a slot on the broad wall. Complete multipacting suppression can be realized by using the DC magnetic bias method.

The Cornell ERL prototype project

Synchrotron light sources based on Energy Recovery Linacs (ERLs) show promise to deliver X-ray beams with both brilliance and X-ray pulse duration far superior to the values that can be achieved with storage ring technology. Cornell University, in collaboration with Jefferson Laboratory, has proposed the construction of a prototype ERL. This 100MeV, 100mA CW superconducting electron accelerator will be used to study and resolve the many accelerator physics and technology issues of this type of machine. These studies are essential before ERLs can be confidently proposed for large-scale applications such as synchrotron light sources. Key issues include the generation of high average current, high brightness electron beams; acceleration and transport of these beams while preserving their brightness; adequate damping of higher order modes (HOMs) to assure beam stability; removal of large amounts of HOM power from the cryogenic environment; stable RF control of cavities operating at very high external Q; reduction of beam losses to very low levels; and the development of precision non-intercepting diagnostics to allow beam setup, control and characterization. Our prototype design allows us to address these and other issues over a broad range of parameter space. This design, along with recent progress on understanding these issues, will be presented.

Design of a high speed, high resolution thermometry system for 1.5 GHz superconducting radio frequency cavities

Presented in this paper are the description and the test results of a new stationary thermometry system used to map the temperature of the outer surface of 1.5 GHz superconducting single‐cell cavities during operation at 1.6 K. The system comprises 764 removable carbon thermometers whose signals are multiplexed and scanned by a Macintosh computer. A complete temperature map can be obtained in as little as 0.1 s at a temperature resolution of about 0.2 mK. Alternatively, it has been demonstrated that if the acquisition time is increased to several seconds, then a temperature resolution on the order of 30 μK is possible. To our knowledge, these are the fastest acquisition times so far achieved with L‐band cavities at these resolutions.

Dipole-mode-free and kick-free 2-cell cavity for the SC ERL injector

For the ERL injector, superconducting cavities are needed to deliver to the beam a 100 kWCW RF power. With a beam current of 100...33 mA, gap voltage of 1...3 MV, the coupler must have an external g-factor in the range of 4.6/spl times/10/sup 4/...4.1/spl times/10/sup 5/. The cavity shape and coupler design presented provide the possibility of working in the range of parameters without substantial transverse kick to the beam and HOM-losses in the system. In order to preserve field flatness while the dipole mode is driven out, the 2-cell cavity has a protruding iris between the cell and the larger beam pipe. A twin-coaxial coupler has high coupling but low kick because of its symmetry. Calculation and optimization of the coupler-cavity system are performed with a 2D SLANS and 3D Microwave Studio/sup /spl reg// codes.

A new purification technique for improving the thermal conductivity of superconducting Nb microwave cavities

Improvement factors up to 4 in the thermal conductivity of Niobium between 4 and 9K are obtainted by a new purification technique which removes the dominant interstitial impurity (oxygen) found in commercial Nb. In the process, surfaces of the cavity are brought into proximity with Yttrium foil at -10-5torr for several hours. A vapor deposited film of several μm thickness traps oxygen diffusing rapidly from the bulk to the surface. A single cell, 1500 MHz, elliptically shaped cavity with thermal conductivity improved by this method shows amelioration of thermal breakdown, as predicted by thermal model calculations.