Barry Barish | 21 November 2012One of the most important goals of the Global Design Effort has been to demonstrate that high-gradient cavities can be reliably produced in industry. We established two gradient goals: to produce cavities qualified at 35 Megavolts per metre (MV/m) in vertical tests and to demonstrate that an average gradient of 31.5 MV/m is achievable for ILC cryomodules. Furthermore, we set a goal of producing these high-gradient cavities in industry with 50% yield by 2010 and 90% yield by the end of 2012. We have recently achieved these ambitious goals!
Category: Director's Corner | Tagged: accelerator R&D, cavity gradient, superconducting cavity, TDR
Leah Hesla | 26 July 2012Fermilab scientists have a new diagnostic tool that could lead to far more efficient accelerator cavities. The temperature mapping system, fitted with 576 sensors, reads the temperature of every square centimetre of cavity surface and might thus help scientists get to the bottom of the problem of why superconducting cavities dissipate much more energy than theory predicts.
Category: Around the World | Tagged: cavity temperature mapping, Cornell, Fermilab, Jefferson Lab, superconducting cavity
17 November 2011At the Superconducting Test Facility (STF) at KEK, Japan, the construction of the injector cryomodule equipped with two ILC-type nine-cell cavities has begun for the Quantum Beam experiment. The cavity string has been brought out of the clean room, ready for tuner installation. The gas return pipe is being readied to be placed in the cold-mass assembly framework.
Category: Image of the week | Tagged: KEK, Quantum Beam experiment, STF, superconducting cavity
10 November 2011The most ambitious future application under study is for the International Linear Collider (ILC), a 500 GeV superconducting linear accelerator. It will require 16 km of superconducting cavities operating at gradients of 31.5 MV/m. Intense research is underway to reach a high yield for high gradients: 30–40 MV/m. New vendors for niobium, for cavities and for associated components are being developed around the world.
Category: Feature | Tagged: SRF technology, superconducting cavity
Rika Takahashi | 14 July 2011Worrying about blemishes on the skin is not just an issue for people who pursue personal physical beauty, but also for accelerator scientists. Scientists and engineers at KEK have found a way to deal with unwanted stains on the inner surface of superconducting cavities, which might be one of the causes of performance limitation.
Category: Feature | Tagged: electropolishing, KEK, Kyoto camera, superconducting cavity