A Facility For Magnetic Field Penetration Measurements on Multilayer S-I-S Structures

Superconducting RF cavities made of bulk Nb has reached a breakdown field of about 200 mT which is close to the superheating field for Nb. As it was theoretically shown a multilayer coating can be used to enhance the breakdown field of SRF cavities. The simple example is a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (S-I-S), for example bulk niobium (S) coated with a thin film of insulator (I) followed by a thin layer of a superconductor (S) which could be a dirty niobium. To verify such an enhancement in a presence of a DC magnetic field at 4.2 K a simple experimental facility was designed, built and tested in ASTeC. The details of experimental setup and results of the measurements will be shown at the conference

Thermal and Mechanical Analysis of the Radiation Shield Design for HiLumi LHC Crab Cavity Cryomodule

A prototype cryomodule to test the performance of the crab cavities for the HiLumi LHC is currently being designed and scheduled to be installed on SPS at CERN prior to LS2 (long shut down). The cryomodule design consists of a unique open access structure, facilitating loading of the cavity string from the sides. It also provides access to internal components quickly and easily, even after installation. Design of the radiation shield and the cooling scheme for introducing thermal intercepts at intermediate temperatures, particularly for the high power RF couplers, is critical to achieving a desired stability at the cavity operating temperature of 2K, as well as keeping the cooling power within the limits of the cryoplant available in the SPS test area at CERN. This paper describes the results of the thermal and mechanical analysis of the design for the radiation shield and thermal intercepts developed in the process

Status of the CASCADE microwave cavity experiment

The CASCADE experiment is a "light shining through a wall" (LSW) experiment consisting of microwave cavities. It is dedicated to search for photon oscillations into hidden sector photons (HSP). The main measurement setup consists of two normal conducting TM010 pillbox cavities at 1.3 GHz. In this paper we present the planned measurement campaign that is divided in four main phases

CASCADE:a cavity based dark matter experiment

An experiment is proposed that uses a pair of RF cavities as a source and detector of hidden sector photons (HSP). HSP's are hypothetical low-mass dark matter candidates with coupling to ordinary photons. SRF cavities are favoured in this experiment as they are able to store a high number of photons for a given input power due to the high Q available. When powered, such a cavity will act as a source of HSPs, while an empty cavity will be able to capture any HSP's decaying back into RF photons. Such an experiment (CASCADE) is being developed at the Cockcroft Institute using single cell 1.3 GHz cavities previously utilised for manufacturing and BCP studies. The aims of the CASCADE project are detailed, along with the system specification

Design approach for the development of a cryomodule for compact crab cavities for Hi-Lumi LHC

A prototype Superconducting RF (SRF) cryomodule, comprising multiple compact crab cavities is foreseen to realise a local crab crossing scheme for the “Hi-Lumi LHC”, a project launched by CERN to increase the luminosity performance of LHC. A cryomodule with two cavities will be initially installed and tested on the SPS drive accelerator at CERN to evaluate performance with high-intensity proton beams. A series of boundary conditions influence the design of the cryomodule prototype, arising from; the complexity of the cavity design, the requirement for multiple RF couplers, the close proximity to the second LHC beam pipe and the tight space constraints in the SPS and LHC tunnels. As a result, the design of the helium vessel and the cryomodule has become extremely challenging. This paper assesses some of the critical cryogenic and engineering design requirements and describes an optimised cryomodule solution for the evaluation tests on SPS

Determining BCP Etch Rate and Uniformity in High Luminosity LHC Crab Cavities

The compact SRF Crab Cavities required for HL-LHC have complex geometries making prediction of average and local BCP etch rates a difficult task. This paper describes a series of experiments and simulations used to determine the etch uniformity and rate within these structures. An initial experiment was conducted to determine the correlation between etch rate and flow rate in a Nb tube. These results were then incorporated into Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations of acid flow in the Double Quarter Wave (DQW) cavity to predict etch rates across the surface and allow optimisation of the BCP setup. There were several important findings from the work; one of which is that the flow rate in the relatively large body of the cavity is predominantly driven by natural convection due to the exothermic reaction. During BCP processing of the DQW cavity a significant difference in etching was observed between upper and lower horizontal surfaces which was mitigated by etching in several orientations. Two DQW cavities manufactured by CERN have received a heavy BCP of 200μm followed by 2 light BCPs of 30μm each with subsequent vertical cold tests showing performance exceeding specification.The compact SRF Crab Cavities required for HL-LHC have complex geometries making prediction of average and local BCP etch rates a difficult task. This paper describes a series of experiments and simulations used to determine the etch uniformity and rate within these structures. An initial experiment was conducted to determine the correlation between etch rate and flow rate in a simple Nb tube. These results were then incorporated into Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations of acid flow in the Double Quarter Wave (DQW) cavity to predict etch rates across the surface and allow optimisation of the BCP setup. There were several important findings from the work; one of which is that the flow rate in the relatively large body of the cavity is predominantly driven by natural convection due to the exothermic reaction. During BCP processing of the DQW cavity a significant difference in etching was observed between upper and lower horizontal surfaces which was mitigated by etching in several orientations. Two DQW cavities manufactured by CERN have received a heavy BCP of 200 µm followed by 2 light BCPs of 20 µm each. Subsequent testing has shown performance exceeding required accelerating gradient and Q factor

Key Design Features of Crab-Cavity Cryomodule for HiLumi LHC

A prototype Superconducting RF (SRF) cryomodule, comprising multiple compact crab cavities is foreseen to realise a local crab crossing scheme for the “Hi-Lumi LHC”, a project launched by CERN to increase the luminosity performance of LHC. A cryomodule with two cavities will be initially installed and tested on the SPS drive accelerator at CERN to evaluate performance with high-intensity proton beams. STFC in collaboration with, University of Lancaster, CERN and FNAL has developed a concept cryomodule that has overcome most of the critical challenges imposed by a series of boundary conditions arising from; the complexity of the cavity design, the requirement for multiple RF couplers, the close proximity to the second LHC beam pipe and the tight space constraints in the SPS tunnel. This paper highlights some of the key design features of the cryomodule with the results of the associated mechanical and thermal analysis

Testing and Dressed Cavity Design for the HL-LHC 4R Crab Cavity

The High luminosity upgrade to the LHC (HL-LHC) calls for crab cavities to reduce the luminosity loss due to the crossing angle and help provide luminosity levelling. The 4 Rod Crab Cavity (4RCC) is one of three proposed options under consideration. A bare cavity has been prototyped and has undergone recent vertical tests and the results are presented. The dressed cavity includes a power coupler, a lower order mode coupler and two HOM couplers will be presented and discussed