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Tag archive: cavity inspection

The sound of accelerator cavities

| 21 April 2011 Elegant and inexpensive, the second-sound detection system developed at Cornell University helps scientists triangulate the location of hard-to-see accelerator cavity flaws. Helium helps. Category: Feature | Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

A robot to watch out for defects

| 14 April 2011 A small group of young researchers at DESY, Germany, is working on a robot that could drastically reduce the time it takes to optically inspect a cavity. Their work covers everything from the pure mechanics of the workbench and fine-tuned motors for moving the heavy parts to developing sophisticated methods of automatically analysing the pictures. Cavities might eventually pass the check in two hours instead of the one-and-a-half days it takes today. Category: Around the World | Tagged: , , , , ,

Looking inside

| 21 February 2008 At the ILC, roughly 16,000 superconducting RF cavities made of pure niobium will accelerate electrons and positrons to the high energy of 500 GeV. Each one-metre-long cavity consists of nine cells, polished to provide micrometre-level surface smoothness and absolutely no impurities. The inside of the cavities need to literally sparkle since any surface blemishes or dust could cause them to lose their superconductivity, making them unable to sustain the electric field needed to accelerate particles. ILC scientists around the world are devoted to trying to get a higher yield rate for producing good-quality cavities by improving surface treatment methods and inspection procedures. A group of scientists from Kyoto University and KEK jointly developed the novel inspection system to take a close look at the interior surface of the cavities, and produced remarkable results. Category: Feature | Tagged: , , , , ,