AASC Coated Cavities

Abstract

The price of niobium is a significant part of the cost of superconducting RF cavity production. One route to significant cost reduction is to use cavities that have a thin layer of niobium deposited on a less expensive substrate. However, to date, all attempts to use thin films of niobium in superconducting RF cavities have resulted in cavity performance that does not meet the requirements for modern linear accelerators. Fermilab will provide two (2) cavities to AASC. AASC will coat the two (2) cavities with niobium using its high-purity deposition method. AASC will return the coated cavities to Fermilab for Quality Assurance (QA) testing. If the coatings pass preliminary QA tests performed at Fermilab, they will be subjected to RF testing at Fermilab and their performance will be evaluated relative to solid niobium cavities.