While the linear collider community is working on the most viable technologies for the two linacs that will one day accelerate electron and positrons efficiently, more than 200 linear accelerators – linacs – are already in use at research institutions around the world. Nearly 500 representatives from both operating and planned linear accelerators are meeting […]
The capability for producing niobium sheets
The International Linear Collider will need about 16,000 superconducting radiofrequency cavities, devices that accelerate electrons and their antiparticles, positrons, along microwaves to near speed of light. These cavities are made out of pure niobium, which means the ILC community needs 500 tonnes of high-purity niobium processed into nice, smooth sheets. In the industrial session held […]
The mass production of SRF linac cavities
Today's issue features a Director's Corner from Marc Ross, Project Manager for the Global Design Effort.
A significant fraction of ILC R&D has focused on the production of accelerating cavities, which requires a thorough understanding of the behaviour and properties of niobium, the metal of choice for ILC cavities. The 2007 ILC Reference Design Report showed that the better part of the construction project effort will be taken up by comparatively […]
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 […]
A conformal approach to cavity coating
Argonne scientists give metals a healthy superconducting coat, one atomic layer at a time.
A necklace of cheap metal with gold-flaked paint may look like solid gold finery, but eventually, the paint will peel, revealing a worthless trinket beneath. But an accelerator cavity of inexpensive metal with a nice niobium coat, though less expensive than a solid niobium structure, could actually hold more value for a particle collider. Scientists […]
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 […]
The ILC, a very special market for high purity niobium
The ILC will have an ultra-cold and complex heart made of niobium, a rare, soft, grey, and ductile transition metal. Some 18,000 radio frequency (RF) accelerating cavities for the ILC will be made of niobium, which becomes superconductor when cooled to nearly absolute zero. There are many steps to produce fine grain niobium for ILC […]
ILC challenges materials science
Physicists and engineers already know most of the empirical recipes to build very good accelerating cavities: highly pure niobium is essential, welding needs to be carefully controlled and surfaces undergo advanced cleaning and annealing procedures. But, as for every complex system, a lot of phenomena remain unexplained. The theoretical limits of RF superconductivity are not […]
US-manufactured cavity achieves high gradient
Turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie – all things you might appreciate on Thanksgiving. ILC scientists in the United States had something extra to be thankful for this year. On 21 November, the day before the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, a superconducting cavity manufactured by Advanced Energy Systems in Medford, NY, reached a high gradient […]