22 research outputs found
Model for initiation of quality factor degradation at high accelerating fields in superconducting radio-frequency cavities
A model for the onset of the reduction in SRF cavity quality factor, the
so-called Q-drop, at high accelerating electric fields is presented. Breakdown
of the surface barrier against magnetic flux penetration at the cavity equator
is considered to be the critical event that determines the onset of Q-drop. The
worst case of triangular grooves with low field of first flux penetration Hp,
as analyzed previously by Buzdin and Daumens, [1998 Physica C 294: 257], was
adapted. This approach incorporates both the geometry of the groove and local
contamination via the Ginzburg-Landau parameter kappa, so the proposed model
allows new comparisons of one effect in relation to the other. The model
predicts equivalent reduction of Hp when either roughness or contamination were
varied alone, so smooth but dirty surfaces limit cavity performance about as
much as rough but clean surfaces do. When in combination, contamination
exacerbates the negative effects of roughness and vice-versa. To test the model
with actual data, coupons were prepared by buffered chemical polishing and
electropolishing, and stylus profilometry was used to obtain distributions of
angles. From these data, curves for surface resistance generated by simple flux
flow as a function of magnetic field were generated by integrating over the
distribution of angles for reasonable values of kappa. This showed that
combined effects of roughness and contamination indeed reduce the Q-drop onset
field by ~30%, and that that contamination contributes to Q-drop as much as
roughness. The latter point may be overlooked by SRF cavity research, since
access to the cavity interior by spectroscopy tools is very difficult, whereas
optical images have become commonplace. The model was extended to fit cavity
test data, which indicated that reduction of the superconducting gap by
contaminants may also play a role in Q-drop.Comment: 15 pages with 7 figure
The 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.Comment: 45 pages (Latex), 39 figures (Encapsulated Postscript), 53 Author
Achievement of 35 MV/m in the Superconducting Nine-Cell Cavities for TESLA
The Tera Electronvolt Superconducting Linear Accelerator TESLA is the only linear electron-positron collider project based on superconductor technology for particle acceleration. In the first stage with 500 GeV center-ofmass energy an accelerating field of 23.4 MV/m is needed in the superconducting niobium cavities which are operated at a temperature of 2 K and a quality factor Q 0 of 10 . This performance has been reliably achieved in the cavities of the TESLA Test Facility (TTF) accelerator. The upgrade of TESLA to 800 GeV requires accelerating gradients of 35 MV/m. Using an improved cavity treatment by electrolytic polishing it has been possible to raise the gradient to 35 - 43 MV/m in single cell resonators. Here we report on the successful transfer of the electropolishing technique to multi-cell cavities. Presently four nine-cell cavities have achieved 35 MV/m at Q 0 510 , and a fifth cavity could be excited to 39 MV/m. In two high-power tests it could be verified that EP-cavities preserve their excellent performance after welding into the helium cryostat and assembly of the high-power coupler. One cavity has been operated for 1100 hours at the TESLA-800 gradient of 35 MV/m and 57 hours at 36 MV/m without loss in performance