Niobium cavities are important parts of the integrated NC/SC high-power linacs. Over the years, researchers in several countries have tested various cavity shapes. They concluded that elliptically shaped cells are the most appropriate shape for superconducting cavities. The need for very clean surfaces led to the use of a buffered chemical polishing procedure for surface cleaning to get good performance of the cavities. This proposal discusses the second phase of research in the second year of the project.
The first phase (starting Summer 2001) has resulted in improving the basic understanding of multipacting and the process of chemical etching. Based on our conclusions so far, as well as our interaction with personnel of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), we propose to focus on the following topics in the second phase of this project:
1. Continue optimizing the cavity shape to reduce or minimize the possibilities of multipacting.
2. Redesign the etching process to maximize surface uniformity.
3. Experimental study of multipacting conditions.
4. Experimental study of the etching process and the resulting quality of the surface
