Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Powers, Thomas J.

Publications and source records attributed to Powers, Thomas J..

Commissioning of the prototype C75 cavities in a CEBAF cryomodule

Prototype cavities have been built at Jefferson Lab to increase the energy of future refurbished CEBAF cryomodules to 75 MeV in the most cost efficient way. Three such cavities, named "C75", have been built from ingot Nb material of different purity and have been processed and tested. The two better performing cavities have been assembled into a "cavity pair" and installed in the latest refurbished original CEBAF cryomodule. The cryomodule was installed and commissioned in CEBAF. The results from the commissioning of the C75 cavities, compared with the original CEBAF cavities, are presented in this article. The vertical test performance of the C75 cavities was preserved in the cryomodule with one of the cavities achieving the performance specification of an accelerating gradient of 19 MV/m with a quality factor of ~8×109 at 2.07 K. The performance in terms of microphonics and tuner operation was similar to that of original CEBAF cavities, as expected, and the high-order modes are properly damped. The quality factor of the two C75 cavities was the highest achieved in a CEBAF cryomodule, possibly due to the better magnetic flux expulsion of ingot Nb than standard fine-grain Nb.

Drury, Michael A.↗

Architectural considerations for recirculated and energy recovered hard XFEL drivers

A confluence of events motivates discussion of design options for hard XFEL driver accelerators. Firstly, multiple superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) driven systems are now online (European XFEL), in construction (LCLS-II), or in design (MARIE); these provide increasing evidence of the transformational potential they offer for fundamental science with its concomitant benefits. Secondly, operation of 12 GeV CEBAF* validates use of recirculation in high energy SRF linacs. Thirdly, advances in the analysis and control of effects such as coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) and the microbunching instability (uBI) have been recently achieved. Collectively, these developments offer insights providing extended facility science reach, reduced costs, multiplicity (i.e., support of numerous FELs operating over a range of wavelengths), and enhanced scalability and upgradability (to higher powers and energies). We will discuss the relationship amongst the various threads, and indicate how they inform design choices for the system architecture of an option for the UK-XFEL** - that of a staged multi-user X-ray FEL and nuclear physics facility based on a multi-pass recirculating SRF CW linac.

Benson, Stephen V.↗

Experimental Demonstration of Ion Beam Cooling with Pulsed Electron Beam

Cooling ion beams at high energy is presently considered for several ion colliders, in order to achieve high luminosities by enabling a significant reduction of emittance of hadron beams. Electron beam at cooling channel in a few to tens MeV can be accelerated by a RF/SRF linac, and thus using bunched electrons to cool bunched ions. To study such cooling process, the DC electron gun of EC35 cooler at the storage ring CSRm, IMP was modified by pulsing the grid voltage. A 0.07-3.5 micro-second pulse length with a repetition frequency of less than 250 kHz and synchronized with the ion revolution frequency was obtained. The first experimental demonstration of cooling of a coasting and bunched ion beam by a pulsed electron beam was carried out. Data analysis indicates the bunch length shrinkage and the momentum spread reduction of bunched 12C+6 ion beam as evidence of cooling. A longitudinal grouping effect of the coasting ion beam by the electron pulses has also been observed*. In this paper, we will present experimental results and comparison to the simulation modelling, particularly on the bunched electron cooling data after carefully analyzing the beam diagnostic signals.

Zhang, Yuhong↗

Jefferson Lab Vertical Test Area RF System Improvement

RF systems for testing critically coupled SRF cavities require the ability to track the cavity frequency excursions while making accurate measurements of the radio frequency (RF) signals associated with the cavity. Two types of systems are being used at Jefferson Lab. The first, the traditional approach, is to use a voltage controlled oscillator configured as a phase locked loop such that it will track the cavity frequency. The more recently developed approach is to use a digital low level RF (LLRF) system in self excited loop (SEL) mode to track the cavity frequency. Using a digital LLRF system in SEL mode has the advantage that it is much easier to lock to the cavity’s resonant frequencies and they tend to have a wider capture range. This paper will report on the system designs used to implement the 12 GeV digital LLRF system in the JLAB vertical test area. Additionally, it will report on the system modifications which are being implemented so that the RF infrastructure in the VTA will be ready to support the LCLS II cryomodule production effort, which is scheduled to begin in calendar year 2016.

Powers, Thomas J.↗

Wisconsin SRF Electron Gun Commissioning

The University of Wisconsin has completed fabrication and commissioning of a low frequency (199.6 MHz) superconducting electron gun based on a quarter wave resonator (QWR) cavity. Its concept was optimized to be the source for a CW free electron laser facility. The gun design includes active tuning and a high temperature superconducting solenoid. We will report on the status of the Wisconsin SRF electron gun program, including commissioning experience and first beam measurements.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

A Program for Optimizing SRF Linac Costs

Every well-designed machine goes through the process of cost optimization several times during its design, production and operation. The initial optimizations are done during the early proposal stage of the project when none of the systems have been engineered. When a superconducting radio frequency (SRF) linac is implemented as part of the design, it is often a difficult decision as to the frequency and gradient that will be used. Frequently, such choices are made based on existing designs, which invariably necessitate moderate to substantial modifications so that they can be used in the new accelerator. Thus the fallacy of using existing designs is that they will frequently provide a higher cost machine or a machine with sub-optimal beam physics parameters. This paper describes preliminary results of a new software tool that allows one to vary parameters and understand the effects on the optimized costs of construction plus 10 year operations of an SRF linac, the associated cryogenic facility, and controls, where operations includes the cost of the electrical utilities but not the labor or other costs. It derives from collaborative work done with staff from Accelerator Science and Technology Centre, Daresbury, UK [1] several years ago while they were in the process of developing a conceptual design for the New Light Source project. The initial goal was to convert a spread sheet format to a graphical interface to allow the ability to sweep different parameter sets. The tools also allow one to compare the cost of the different facets of the machine design and operations so as to better understand the tradeoffs.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗