Thin Film (High Temperature) Superconducting Radiofrequency Cavities for the Search of Axion Dark Matter

5 pages, 6 figures. v2: minor updates after referee comments, matches published version in IEEEThe axion is a hypothetical particle which is a candidate for cold dark matter. Haloscope experiments directly search for these particles in strong magnetic fields with RF cavities as detectors. The Relic Axion Detector Exploratory Setup (RADES) at CERN in particular is searching for axion dark matter in a mass range above 30 $\mu$eV. The figure of merit of our detector depends linearly on the quality factor of the cavity and therefore we are researching the possibility of coating our cavities with different superconducting materials to increase the quality factor. Since the experiment operates in strong magnetic fields of 11 T and more, superconductors with high critical magnetic fields are necessary. Suitable materials for this application are for example REBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$, Nb$_3$Sn or NbN. We designed a microwave cavity which resonates at around 9~GHz, with a geometry optimized to facilitate superconducting coating and designed to fit in the bore of available high-field accelerator magnets at CERN. Several prototypes of this cavity were coated with different superconducting materials, employing different coating techniques. These prototypes were characterized in strong magnetic fields at 4.2 K.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 730871 (ARIES-TNA). BD and JG acknowledge funding through the European Research Council under grant ERC-2018-StG-802836 (AxScale). We also acknowledge funding via the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) under project PID2019- 108122GB-C33, and the grant FPI BES-2017-079787 (under project FPA2016-76978-C3-2-P). Furthermore we acknowledge support from SuMaTe RTI2018-095853-B-C21 from MICINN co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, Center of Excellence award Severo Ochoa CEX2019- 000917-S and CERN under Grant FCCGOV-CC-0208 (KE4947/ATS).With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000917-S).Peer reviewe

Small scale time projection chamber setup to test the purity of liquid krypton from the NA62 experiment at CERN

A high liquid krypton purity level is essential for the NA62 calorimeter at CERN to ensure long lifetimes of the ionization electrons in the detector. A small time projection chamber (TPC) system was developed to enable the measurement of liquid krypton purity at the oxygen equivalent ppb level. This paper describes the dedicated cryogenic setup and the procedures required to operate the purity monitor system, while guaranteeing the condensation of krypton at 119 K without freezing it at 115.8 K on the cryocooler-based heat exchanger. The focus is on the materials used, and the instrumentation and pressure safety equipment that allowed the bake-out and purging procedures to reach ppb levels of impurities in the two litre vessel containing the TPC. The setup was integrated in the NA62 experimental area and successfully tested with purified commercially obtained krypton

Effective Time Constants at 4.2 to 70 K in ReBCO Pancake Coils with Different Inter-Turn Resistances

For future ReBCO tape based accelerator magnets it is proposed to use no- or partial inter-turn insulation to deal with quench detection and protection. In a non-insulated coil the turns are separated by a finite electrical resistance, providing a bypass for the current at hot-spots, improving thermal stability and quench detection time. However, such coils show different dynamic electromagnetic behavior compared to insulated coils under normal charging and transient quench conditions. To study such coils in detail two pancake coils, one dry-wound and one with solder in between turns, are prepared and tested in a variable temperature cryostat between 4.2 and 70 K. Properties of the coils that are studied are charge and discharge time behavior, turn-to-turn resistance, response to current stepping, and operational stability. In this paper, the first results are presented and compared to a simplified network model in order to gain further understanding into the underlying physics