Measurements of Magnetic Field Penetration of Materials for Superconducting Radiofrequency Cavities

Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities used in particle accelerators are typically formed from or coated with superconducting materials. Currently high purity niobium is the material of choice for SRF cavities which have been optimized to operate near their theoretical field limits. This brings about the need for significant R&D efforts to develop next generation superconducting materials which could outperform Nb and keep up with the demands of new accelerator facilities. To achieve high quality factors and accelerating gradients, the cavity material should be able to remain in the superconducting Meissner state under high RF magnetic field without penetration of quantized magnetic vortices through the cavity wall. Therefore, the magnetic field at which vortices penetrate in a superconductor is one of the key parameters of merit of SRF cavities. Techniques to measure the onset of magnetic field penetration on thin film samples need to be developed to mitigate the issues with the conventional magnetometry measurements which are strongly influenced by the film orientation and shape and edge effects. The applied magnetic field is also needed to be parallel to the one side of the superconductor to resemble the magnetic field profile at the surface of the SRF cavities operating at fundamental accelerating mode. In this work we report the development of an experimental setup called Magnetic Field Penetration (MFP) magnetometer to measure the field of full flux penetration through bulk, thin films and multilayered superconductors. Our system combines a small superconducting solenoid which can generate the magnetic field up to 500 mT at the sample surface and three Hall probes to detect the full flux penetration through the planner superconductor with 2 inch diameter. This setup was used to study alternative materials which could potentially outperform niobium, as well as SIS multilayer coatings on niobium

The Magnetic Field Penetration Measurement of Thin Film and Multilayered Superconductors for SRF Cavities

Radio Frequency (RF) Cavities are used in particle accelerators and they are typically formed from or coated with superconducting materials. High purity niobium is the material of choice for SRF cavities and niobium cavities operate at their theoretical field limits. SRF researchers have begun a significant R&D effort to develop alternative materials to continue to keep up with the demands of new accelerator facilities. To achieve high performance with high accelerating gradient, cavity material should have an ability to persist in superconducting state under high magnetic field without magnetic flux penetration through the cavity wall. Therefore, the magnetic field at which first flux penetrates is a fundamental parameter to characterize superconducting materials for SRF cavities. This leads to investigate a simple, efficient, and accurate technique to measure the penetration of the magnetic field directly. The conventional magnetometers are inconvenient for thin superconducting film measurements because these measurements are strongly influenced by orientation, edge, and shape effects. In order to measure the onset of field penetration in bulk, thin films and multi-layered superconductors, we have designed, built and calibrated a system combining a small superconducting solenoid capable of generating surface magnetic field higher than 500 mT and Hall probe to detect the first flux penetration through the superconducting sample. This setup can be used to study various promising alternative materials to niobium, especially SIS multilayer coatings on niobium that have been recently proposed to enhance the accelerating gradient by delaying the flux penetration into niobium surface.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2021_sciences/1016/thumbnail.jp

Direct Current Magnetic Hall Probe Technique for Measurement of Field Penetration in Thin Film Superconductors For Superconducting Radio Frequency Resonators

Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities used in particle accelerators are typically formed from or coated with superconducting materials. Currently, high purity niobium is the material of choice for SRF cavities that have been optimized to operate near their theoretical field limits. This brings about the need for significant R & D efforts to develop next generation superconducting materials that could outperform Nb and keep up with the demands of new accelerator facilities. To achieve high quality factors and accelerating gradients, the cavity material should be able to remain in the superconducting Meissner state under a high RF magnetic field without penetration of quantized magnetic vortices through the cavity wall. Therefore, the magnetic field at which vortices penetrate a superconductor is one of the key parameters of merit of SRF cavities. Techniques to measure the onset of magnetic field penetration on thin film samples need to be developed to mitigate the issues with the conventional magnetometry measurements that are strongly influenced by the film orientation and shape and edge effects. In this work, we report the development of an experimental setup to measure the field of full flux penetration through films and multi-layered superconductors. Our system combines a small superconducting solenoid that can generate a magnetic field of up to 500 mT at the sample surface and three Hall probes to detect the full flux penetration through the superconductor. This setup can be used to study alternative materials that could potentially outperform niobium, as well as superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) multilayer coatings on niobium

Field Shielding of N\u3csub\u3eB\u3c/sub\u3eTN Based Multilayer Structure for Accelerating Cavities

Over the past few decades, bulk niobium (Nb) has been the material of choice for superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities used in particle accelerators to achieve higher accelerating gradients and lower RF losses. Multi-layer (SIS) structures consisting of alternating thin layers of superconductor(S) and insulator(I) deposited on a bulk Nb have been proposed to enhance the peak surface magnetic field and sustain a higher accelerating gradient. In this study, multilayers based NbTiN and AlN deposited on bulk Nb are used to test the proposed enhancement using the DC magnetic Hall probe technique. The technique detects a penetrating magnetic field through the multilayer sample as it is placed under an external mag-netic field produced by a magnetic coil. This work reports the characterization and measurements of the magnetic field of full flux penetration through single layers of NbTiN and bilayers of NbTiN/AlN on bulk Nb

Measurement of the Magnetic Field Penetration Into Superconducting Thin Films

The magnetic field at which first flux penetrates is a fundamental parameter characterizing superconducting materials for SRF cavities. Therefore, an accurate technique is needed to measure the penetration of the magnetic field directly. The conventional magnetometers are inconvenient for thin superconducting film measurements because these measurements are strongly influenced by orientation, edge and shape effects. In order to measure the onset of field penetration in bulk, thin films and multi-layered superconductors, we have designed, built and calibrated a system combining a small superconducting solenoid capable of generating surface magnetic field higher than 500 mT and Hall probe to detect the first entry of vortices. This setup can be used to study various promising alternative materials to Nb, especially SIS multilayer coatings on Nb that have been recently proposed to delay the vortex penetration in Nb surface. In this paper, the system will be described and calibration will be presented

Samples for 3rd Harmonic Magnetometry Assessment of NbTiN-Based SIS Structures

In the quest for alternative superconducting materials to bring accelerator cavity performance beyond the bulk niobium (Nb) intrinsic limits, a promising concept uses superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) thin film structures that allows magnetic flux shielding in accelerator cavities to higher fields [1]. Candidate materials for such structures are NbTiN as the superconductor and AlN as the insulator. We have demonstrated high quality NbTiN and AlN deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering (DCMS), both for individual layers and multilayers. Interface quality has been assessed for bilayer stacks with 250 nm NbTiN layers and AlN thicknesses from 30 nm down to1 nm. These SIS structures show continued sharp interfaces with total average roughness under 2 nm. The Hfp enhancement of the films will be examined with a 3rd harmonic magnetometry. The system is being designed and built in a continuing collaboration with CEA Saclay. It can measure 25 to 50 mm samples on a temperature controlled stage. This contribution presents an overview of the design of the 3rd harmonic magnetometer and the material properties assessment of standalone films and multilayer nanostructures

Measurements of Magnetic Field Penetration in Superconducting Materials for SRF Cavities

Superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities used in particle accelerators operate in the Meissner state. To achieve high accelerating gradients, the cavity material should stay in the Meissner state under high RF magnetic field without penetration of vortices through the cavity wall. The field onset of flux penetration into a superconductor is an important parameter of merit of alternative superconducting materials other than Nb which can enhance the performance of SRF cavities. There is a need for a simple and efficient technique to measure the onset of field penetration into a superconductor directly. We have developed a Hall probe experimental setup for the measurement of the flux penetration field through a superconducting sample placed under a small superconducting solenoid magnet which can generate magnetic fields up to 500 mT. The system has been calibrated and used to measure different bulk and thin film superconducting materials. This system can also be used to study SIS multilayer coatings that have been proposed to enhance the vortex penetration field in Nb cavities

Investigation of the Multilayer Shielding Effect Through NBTin-AIN Coated Bulk Niobium

We report measurements of the dc field onset Bp of magnetic flux penetration through NbTiN-AlN coating on bulk niobium using the Hall probe experimental setup. The measurements of Bp reveal the multilayer shielding effect on bulk niobium under high magnetic fields at cryogenic temperatures. We observed a significant enhancement in Bp for the NbTiN-AlN coated Nb samples as compared to bare Nb samples. The observed dependence of Bp on the coating thickness is consistent with theoretical predictions

Samples for 3rd Harmonic Magnetometry Assessment of NbTiN-Based SIS Structures

International audienceIn the quest for alternative superconducting materials to bring accelerator cavity performance beyond the bulk niobium (Nb) intrinsic limits, a promising concept uses superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) thin film structures that allows magnetic flux shielding in accelerator cavities to higher fields [1]. Candidate materials for such structures are NbTiN as the superconductor and AlN as the insulator. We have demonstrated high quality NbTiN and AlN deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering (DCMS), both for individual layers and multilayers. Interface quality has been assessed for bilayer stacks with 250 nm NbTiN layers and AlN thicknesses from 30 nm down to1 nm. These SIS structures show continued sharp interfaces with total average roughness under 2 nm. The Hfp enhancement of the films will be examined with a 3rd harmonic magnetometry. The system is being designed and built in a continuing collaboration with CEA Saclay. It can measure 25 to 50 mm samples on a temperature controlled stage. This contribution presents an overview of the design of the 3rd harmonic magnetometer and the material properties assessment of standalone films and multilayer nanostructures