Investigation of the Superconducting Properties of Niobium Radio-Frequency Cavities

Radio-frequency (rf) superconducting cavities are widely used to increase the energy of a charged particle beam in particle accelerators. The maximum gradients of cavities made of bulk niobium have constantly improved over the last ten years and they are approaching the theoretical limit of the material. Nevertheless, rf tests of niobium cavities are still showing some anomalous losses (so-called Q-drop ), characterized by a marked increase of the surface resistance at high rf fields, in absence of field emission. A low temperature in-situ baking under ultra-high vacuum has been successfully applied by several laboratories to reduce those losses and improve the cavity\u27s quality factor. Several models have been proposed to explain the cause of the Q-drop and the baking effect. We investigated the effect of baking on niobium material parameters by measuring the temperature dependence of a cavity\u27s surface impedance and comparing it with the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer\u27s theory of superconductivity. It was found that baking allows interstitial oxygen to diffuse from the surface deeper into the bulk. This produces a significant reduction of the normal electrons\u27 mean free path, which causes an increase of the quality factor. The optimum baking parameters are 120°C for 24-48 h. We were also able to identify the origin of the Q-drop as due to a high magnetic field, rather then electric field, by measuring the quality factor of a cavity as function of the rf field in a resonant mode with only magnetic field present on the surface. With the aid of a thermometry system, we were able to localize the losses in the high magnetic field region. We measured the Q-drop in cavities which had undergone different treatments, such as anodization, electropolishing and post-purification, and with different metallurgical properties and we study the effectiveness of baking in each case. As a result, none of the models proposed so far can explain all the experimental observations. We elaborated a model proposing a reduction of the lower critical field due to oxygen contamination as the cause for the Q-drop, and the dilution of oxygen into the bulk during bake-out as the cause for its recovery

Superconducting RF Technology R&D for Future Accelerator Applications

Superconducting rf technology (SRF) is evolving rapidly as are its applications. While there is active exploitation of what one may term the current state-of-the-practice, there is also rapid progress expanding in several dimensions the accessible and useful parameter space. While state-of-the-art performance sometimes outpaces thorough understanding, the improving scientific understanding from active SRF research is clarifying routes to obtain optimum performance from present materials and opening avenues beyond the standard bulk niobium. The improving technical basis understanding is enabling process engineering to both improve performance confidence and reliability and also unit implementation costs. Increasing confidence in the technology enables the engineering of new creative application designs. We attempt to survey this landscape to highlight the potential for future accelerator applications.Comment: Submitted to Reviews of Accelerator Science and Technolog

Measurement of the High-Field Q Drop in the TM010 and TE011 Modes in a Niobium Cavity

In the last few years superconducting radio-frequency (rf) cavities made of high-purity ( residual resistivity ratio \u3e 200) niobium achieved accelerating gradients close to the theoretical limits. An obstacle towards achieving reproducibly higher fields is represented by anomalous\u27\u27 losses causing a sharp degradation of the cavity quality factor when the peak surface magnetic field (Bp) is above about 90 mT, in the absence of field emission. This effect, called Q drop\u27\u27 has been measured in many laboratories with single- and multicell cavities mainly in the gigahertz range. In addition, a low-temperature (100 - 140 °C) in situ\u27\u27 baking of the cavity was found to be beneficial in reducing the Q drop. In order to gain some understanding of the nature of these losses, a single- cell cavity has been tested in the TM010 and TE011 modes at 2 K. The feature of the TE011 mode is to have zero electric field on the cavity surface, so that electric field effects can be excluded as a source for the Q drop. This article will present some of the experimental results for different cavity treatments and will compare them with existing models

Evidence of Increased Radio-Frequency Losses in Cavities from the Fundamental Power Coupler Cold Window

High radio-frequency (rf) losses measured for cavities in original Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) cryomodules, compared to the losses measured in single-cavity tests, have been a long-standing issue related to their performance. We summarize experimental evidence of increased rf losses in CEBAF cavities arising from the fundamental power coupler cold window and waveguide, respectively. Cryogenic rf tests were done on cavities tested in vertical cryostats as well as inside cryomodules in the accelerator tunnel. The cold window metallization losses were assessed by combining numerical results with measured data obtained with an existing cryogenic waveguide resonator setup. The results showed that the cold window metallization losses can increase the cavity rf heat load at 2.07 K by up to 86%, depending on the standing-wave pattern in the fundamental power coupler waveguide, and that such losses are reduced if the distance between the waveguide and the cavity cells is increased

Flux expulsion in niobium superconducting radio-frequency cavities of different purity and essential contributions to the flux sensitivity

Magnetic flux trapped during the cooldown of superconducting radio-frequency cavities through the transition temperature due to incomplete Meissner state is known to be a significant source of radio-frequency losses. The sensitivity of flux trapping depends on the distribution and the type of defects and impurities which pin vortices, as well as the cooldown dynamics when the cavity transitions from a normal to superconducting state. Here we present the results of measurements of the flux trapping sensitivity on 1.3 GHz elliptical cavities made from large-grain niobium with different purity for different cooldown dynamics and surface treatments. The results show that lower purity material results in a higher fraction of trapped flux and that the trapped flux sensitivity parameter $S$ is significantly affected by surface treatments but without much change in the mean free path $l$. We discuss our results within an overview of published data on the dependencies of $S(l,f)$ on $l$ and frequency $f$ using theoretical models of rf losses of elastic vortex lines driven by weak rf currents in the cases of sparse strong pinning defects and collective pinning by many weak defects. Our analysis shows how multiscale pinning mechanisms in cavities can result in a maximum in $S(l)$ similar to that observed by the FNAL and Cornell groups and how pinning characteristics can be extracted from the experimental data. Here the main contribution to $S$ come from weak pinning regions at the cavity surface, where dissipative oscillations along trapped vortices perpendicular to the surface propagate into the bulk well beyond the layer of rf screening current

Role of Thermal Resistance on the Performance of Superconducting Radio Frequency Cavities

Thermal stability is an important parameter for the operation of the superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities used in particle accelerators. The rf power dissipated on the inner surface of the cavities is conducted to the helium bath cooling the outer cavity surface and the equilibrium temperature of the inner surface depends on the thermal resistance. In this manuscript, we present the results of direct measurements of thermal resistance on 1.3 GHz single cell SRF cavities made from high purity large grain and fine grain niobium as well as their rf performance for different treatments applied to outer cavity surface in order to investigate the role of the Kapitza resistance to the overall thermal resistance and to the SRF cavity performance. The results show no significant impact of the thermal resistance to the SRF cavity performance after chemical polishing, mechanical polishing or anodization of the outer cavity surface. Temperature maps taken during the rf test show non-uniform heating of the surface at medium rf fields. Calculations of Q0(Bp) curves using the thermal feedback model show good agreement with experimental data at 2 K and 1.8 K when a pair-braking term is included in the calculation of the BCS surface resistance. These results indicate local intrinsic non-linearities of the surface resistance, rather than purely thermal effects, to be the main cause for the observed field dependence of Q0(Bp)

Analysis of post wet chemistry heat treatment effects on Nb SRF surface resistance

Most of the current research in superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities is focused on ways to reduce the construction and operating cost of SRF based accelerators as well as on the development of new or improved cavity processing techniques. The increase in quality factors is the result of the reduction of the surface resistance of the materials. A recent test on a 1.5 GHz single cell cavity made from ingot niobium of medium purity and heat treated at 1400 C in a ultra-high vacuum induction furnace resulted in a residual resistance of about 1nanoohm and a quality factor at 2.0 K increasing with field up to 5x10^10 at a peak magnetic field of 90 mT. In this contribution, we present some results on the investigation of the origin of the extended Q0-increase, obtained by multiple HF rinses, oxypolishing and heat treatment of all Nb cavities.Comment: To be appear in proceeding of SRF 201