Almost invariably, when superconducting accelerator cavities undergo performance tests, they present a dual personality that leaves researchers scratching their heads. When the niobium structure is stood upright (on a test stand), its quality factor mimics its posture – it measures high. But when the same cavity is placed horizontally in a cryomodule, its quality factor […]
Impersonating bulk niobium
Jefferson Laboratory scientists ionise niobium to make thin films that may outperform their bulkier sibling.
Superconducting radiofrequency power only runs skin-deep, and accelerator scientists have been taking advantage of the phenomenon’s surface-crawling tendencies with a view to making high-performing, low-cost accelerator cavities. The trick is to manipulate a metal’s top-most layer so that it conducts just like a thick slab of superconducting material. Scientists at Jefferson Laboratory in the US […]
Seamless cavity performance
Laboratories in the US begin to take a serious look at hydroforming as a method for creating ILC-type cavities.
Researchers in the US may soon be pumping their cavities into shape. Last year Fermilab scientists put out a call to industrial companies to propose a procedure for hydroforming ILC-type cavities. They hope that by next year, the selected company will provide Fermilab with three hydroformed nine-cell cavities for testing. “Hydroforming’s a good idea whose […]
Globalising R&D
Director’s Corner 15 May 2008 Barry Barish Globalising R&D The coordination of superconducting radiofrequency R&D is central to the Global Design Effort’s mission of bringing the design for the ILC to the point we can make a robust proposal to our governments. Our efforts are becoming globalised more rapidly than we had envisioned. To achieve […]
Argonne-Fermilab BCP System Coming Together
To make the superconducting cavities for the ILC sparkle, they must undergo a series of surface treatments to make them as clean and pure as possible – a necessity for achieving high accelerating gradients. Electropolishing and Buffered Chemical Polishing, the two types of chemical treatments required for the cavities, are not simple tasks. They involve […]