Development of Nb$_3$Sn coatings by magnetron sputtering for SRF cavities

Abstract

Cost and energy savings are an integral requirement in the design of future particle accelerators. Very low losses SRF accelerating systems, together with high-efficiency cryogenics systems, have the potential of low running costs. The association to the capital cost reduction allowed by thin films coated copper cavities may represent the best overall cost-performance compromise. This strategy has been applied for instance in LEP, the LHC and HIE-ISOLDE with the niobium thin films technology. New materials must be considered to improve the quality factor of the cavities, such as Nb$_{3}$Sn, which could also ideally operate at higher temperature thus allowing further energy savings. The study considers the possibility to coat a copper resonator with an Nb$_{3}$Sn layer by means of magnetron sputtering using an alloyed target. We present the impact of the process parameters on the as-deposited layer stoichiometry. The latter is in good agreement with previous results reported in the literature and can be tuned by acting on the coating pressure. The effect of post-coating annealing temperature on the morphology, crystallinity and superconducting properties of the film was also investigated