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At least 73 records · Page 4

Progress and Challenges in Traveling-Wave SRF cavity development at Fermilab

Traveling-wave (TW) technology can push the accelerator field gradient of niobium SRF cavity to 70MV/m or higher beyond the limit of 50~60MV/m in Standing-wave (SW) technology. The early stages of TW SRF cavity developments had been funded by several SBIR grants to Euclid Techlabs and completed in collaboration with Fermilab through a 1-cell prototype and a proof-of-principle 3-cell TW cavity. The TW resonance excitation in the 3-cell TW cavity at 2K was demonstrated through the low power RF test in early 2024. A high-power test of the 3-cell in TW mode being prepared. To advance a design and technology to fabricate a novel high gradient TW SRF cavity, FNAL proposed a half-meter TW RF design and R&Ds to realize that are in progress. Here we will report the recent progress in the 3-cell TW cavity and the challenges towards a half-meter scale TW cavity.

Furuta, F.↗

Progress and Challenges in Traveling-Wave SRF cavity development at Fermilab

Traveling-wave (TW) technology can push the accelerator field gradient of niobium SRF cavity to 70MV/m or higher beyond the limit of 50~60MV/m in Standing-wave (SW) technology. The early stages of TW SRF cavity developments had been funded by several SBIR grants to Euclid Techlabs and completed in collaboration with Fermilab through a 1-cell prototype and a proof-of-principle 3-cell TW cavity. The TW resonance excitation in the 3-cell TW cavity at 2K was demonstrated through the low power RF test in early 2024. A high-power test of the 3-cell in TW mode being prepared. To advance a design and technology to fabricate a novel high gradient TW SRF cavity, FNAL proposed a half-meter TW RF design and R&Ds to realize that are in progress. Here we will report the recent progress in the 3-cell TW cavity and the challenges towards a half-meter scale TW cavity.

Furuta, F.↗

First Results from a Nb3Sn-Coated 1.5-Cell 650 MHz SRF Cavity for Cryogen-Free Industrial Accelerators

First Results from a Nb3Sn-Coated 1.5-Cell 650 MHz SRF Cavity for Cryogen-Free Industrial Accelerators ABSTRACT = Fermilab is advancing the development of a compact, high-power electron beam accelerator using superconducting radio frequency (SRF) technology as a non-radioactive alternative to traditional radiological sources. The current design targets continuous-wave (CW) operation at \SI{1.6}{MeV} and \SI{20}{kW}. To ensure suitability for industrial environments, the system is being designed for cryogen-free operation, driving the adoption of a novel Nb$_3$Sn-coated 1.5-cell SRF cavity operating at \SI{650}{MHz}. This contribution reports on the fabrication, surface preparation, and Nb$_3$Sn coating process of the cavity, as well as first results from vertical test stand (VTS) measurements performed in a liquid helium bath. These initial tests mark a key milestone toward demonstrating the viability of conduction-cooled Nb$_3$Sn SRF cavities for industrial-scale deployment.

Tagdulang, N. [Fermilab]↗

Investigation of the effect of structural defects from hydride precipitation on superconducting properties of high purity SRF cavity Nb using magneto-optical and electron imaging methods

Abstract Nb is an elemental superconductor with a critical temperature of 9.3 K and is widely used to fabricate superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities for particle accelerators. However, microstructural defects in Nb, such as grain boundaries (GBs) and dislocations, can act as pinning centers for magnetic flux that can degrade SRF cavity performance. Hydrogen contamination is also detrimental to SRF cavity performance due to the formation of normal conducting hydrides during cool down. In this study, disc shaped Nb bi-crystals extracted from high-purity large-grain Nb slices were investigated to study the effects of GBs, hydrogen, and dislocations on superconducting properties. Grain orientation and GB misorientation were measured using Laue x-ray diffraction and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analyses. Cryogenic magneto-optical imaging was used to directly observe magnetic flux penetration below T c = 9.3 K. Damage caused by low temperature precipitation of hydrides and their dissolution upon reheating after cryogenic cycles was examined using electron channeling contrast imaging, and EBSD. The relationships between hydride formation, dislocation content, GBs, cryo-cooling, heat treatment (HT), and flux penetration indicate that both GB character and hydrogen content affect magnetic flux penetration. Such flux penetration could be facilitated by dislocation structures and low angle GBs resulting from hydride precipitation and HT.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

SRF Cavity Instability Detection with Machine Learning at CEBAF

During the operation of CEBAF, one or more unstable superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities often cause beam loss trips while the unstable cavities themselves do not necessarily trip off. Identifying an unstable cavity out of the hundreds of cavities installed at CEBAF is difficult and time-consuming. The present RF controls for the legacy cavities report at only 1 Hz, which is too slow to detect fast transient instabilities. A fast data acquisition system for the legacy SRF cavities is being developed which samples and reports at 5 kHz to allow for detection of transients. A prototype chassis has been installed and tested in CEBAF. An autoencoder based machine learning model is being developed to identify anomalous SRF cavity behavior. The model is presently being trained on the slow (1 Hz) data that is currently available, and a separate model will be developed and trained using the fast (5 kHz) DAQ data once it becomes available. This paper will discuss the present status of the new fast data acquisition system and results of testing the prototype chassis. This paper will also detail the initial performance metrics of the autoencoder model.

Carpenter, A.↗

SRF Cavity Instability Detection with Machine Learning at CEBAF

During the operation of CEBAF, one or more unstable superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities often cause beam loss trips while the unstable cavities themselves do not necessarily trip off. Identifying an unstable cavity out of the hundreds of cavities installed at CEBAF is difficult and time-consuming. The present RF controls for the legacy cavities report at only 1 Hz, which is too slow to detect fast transient instabilities. A fast data acquisition system for the legacy SRF cavities is being developed which samples and reports at 5 kHz to allow for detection of transients. A prototype chassis has been installed and tested in CEBAF. An autoencoder based machine learning model is being developed to identify anomalous SRF cavity behavior. The model is presently being trained on the slow (1 Hz) data that is currently available, and a separate model will be developed and trained using the fast (5 kHz) DAQ data once it becomes available. This paper will discuss the present status of the new fast data acquisition system and results of testing the prototype chassis. This paper will also detail the initial performance metrics of the autoencoder model.

Carpenter, A.↗

Searches for New Particles, Dark Matter, and Gravitational Waves with SRF Cavities

This is a Snowmass white paper on the utility of existing and future superconducting cavities to probe fundamental physics. Superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavity technology has seen tremendous progress in the past decades, as a tool for accelerator science. With advances spear-headed by the SQMS center at Fermilab, they are now being brought to the quantum regime becoming a tool in quantum science thanks to the high degree of coherence. The same high quality factor can be leveraged in the search for new physics, including searches for new particles, dark matter, including the QCD axion, and gravitational waves. We survey some of the physics opportunities and the required directions of R&D. Given the already demonstrated integration of SRF cavities in large accelerator systems, this R&D may enable larger scale searches by dedicated experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

First Results From Nb3Sn Coatings of 2.6 GHz Nb SRF Cavities Using DC Cylindrical Magnetron Sputtering System

A DC cylindrical magnetron sputtering system has been commissioned and operated to deposit Nb3Sn onto 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities. After optimizing the deposition conditions in a mock-up cavity, Nb-Sn films are deposited first on flat samples by multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn, and later annealed at 950°C for 3 hours. X-ray diffraction of the films showed multiple peaks for the Nb3Sn phase and Nb (substrate). No peaks from any Nb- Sn compound other than Nb3Sn were detected. Later three 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities are coated with ~1 μm thick Nb3Sn. The first Nb3Sn coated cavity reached close to Eacc = 8 MV/m, demonstrating a quality factor Q0 of $3.2 \times 108$ at Tbath = 4.4 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m, about a factor of three higher than that of Nb at this temperature. Q0 was close to $1.1 \times 109$, dominated by the residual resistance, at 2 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m. The Nb3Sn coated cavities demonstrated Tc in the range of $17.9 -- 18$ K. Here we present the commissioning experience, system optimization, and the first results from the Nb3Sn fabrication on flat samples and SRF cavities.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

First Results from Nb3Sn Coatings of 2.6 GHz Nb SRF Cavities Using DC Cylindrical Magnetron Sputtering System

A DC cylindrical magnetron sputtering system has been commissioned and operated to deposit Nb3Sn onto 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities. After optimizing the deposition conditions in a mock-up cavity, Nb-Sn films are deposited first on flat samples by multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn, and later annealed at 950 {\deg}C for 3 hours. X-ray diffraction of the films showed multiple peaks for the Nb3Sn phase and Nb (substrate). No peaks from any Nb3Sn compound other than Nb3Sn were detected. Later three 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities are coated with ~1 $\mu$m thick Nb3Sn. The first Nb3Sn coated cavity reached close to Eacc = 8 MV/m, demonstrating a quality factor Q0 of 3.2 x 108 at Tbath = 4.4 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m, about a factor of three higher than that of Nb at this temperature. Q0 was close to 1.1 x 109, dominated by the residual resistance, at 2 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m. The Nb3Sn coated cavities demonstrated Tc in the range of 17.9 - 18 K. Here we present the commissioning experience, system optimization, and the first results from the Nb3Sn fabrication on flat samples and SRF cavities.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

FIRST RESULTS FROM Nb3Sn COATINGS OF 2.6 GHz Nb SRF CAVITIES USING DC CYLINDRICAL MAGNETRON SPUTTERING SYSTEM

A DC cylindrical magnetron sputtering system has been commissioned and operated to deposit Nb3Sn onto 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities. After optimizing the deposition conditions in a mock-up cavity, Nb-Sn films are deposited first on flat samples by multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn, and later annealed at 950 °C for 3 hours. X-ray diffraction of the films showed multiple peaks for the Nb3Sn phase and Nb (substrate). No peaks from any Nb-Sn compound other than Nb3Sn were detected. Later three 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities are coated with ~1 µm thick Nb3Sn. The first Nb3Sn coated cavity reached close to Eacc = 8 MV/m, demonstrating a quality factor Q0 of 3.2 × 108 at Tbath = 4.4 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m, about a factor of three higher than that of Nb at this temperature. Q0 was close to 1.1 × 109, dominated by the residual resistance, at 2 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m. The Nb3Sn coated cavities demonstrated Tc in the range of 17.9 ? 18 K. Here, we present the commissioning experience, system optimization, and the first results from the Nb3Sn fabrication on flat samples and SRF cavities.

Shakel, M.S.↗

FIRST RESULTS FROM Nb3Sn COATINGS OF 2.6 GHz Nb SRF CAVITIES USING DC CYLINDRICAL MAGNETRON SPUTTERING SYSTEM

A DC cylindrical magnetron sputtering system has been commissioned and operated to deposit Nb3Sn onto 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities. After optimizing the deposition conditions in a mock-up cavity, Nb-Sn films are deposited first on flat samples by multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn, and later annealed at 950 °C for 3 hours. X-ray diffraction of the films showed multiple peaks for the Nb3Sn phase and Nb (substrate). No peaks from any Nb-Sn compound other than Nb3Sn were detected. Later three 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities are coated with ~1 µm thick Nb3Sn. The first Nb3Sn coated cavity reached close to Eacc = 8 MV/m, demonstrating a quality factor Q0 of 3.2 × 108 at Tbath = 4.4 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m, about a factor of three higher than that of Nb at this temperature. Q0 was close to 1.1 × 109, dominated by the residual resistance, at 2 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m. The Nb3Sn coated cavities demonstrated Tc in the range of 17.9 ? 18 K. Here, we present the commissioning experience, system optimization, and the first results from the Nb3Sn fabrication on flat samples and SRF cavities.

Shakel, M. S.↗

First Results From Nb3Sn Coatings of 2.6 GHz Nb SRF Cavities Using DC Cylindrical Magnetron Sputtering System

A DC cylindrical magnetron sputtering system has been commissioned and operated to deposit Nb3Sn onto 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities. After optimizing the deposition conditions in a mock-up cavity, Nb-Sn films are deposited first on flat samples by multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn, and later annealed at 950 °C for 3 hours. X-ray diffraction of the films showed multiple peaks for the Nb3Sn phase and Nb (substrate). No peaks from any Nb- Sn compound other than Nb3Sn were detected. Later three 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavities are coated with ~1 μm thick Nb3Sn. The first Nb3Sn coated cavity reached close to Eacc = 8 MV/m, demonstrating a quality factor Q0 of 3.2 × 108 at Tbath = 4.4 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m, about a factor of three higher than that of Nb at this temperature. Q0 was close to 1.1 × 109, dominated by the residual resistance, at 2 K and Eacc = 5 MV/m. The Nb3Sn coated cavities demonstrated Tc in the range of 17.9 – 18 K. Here we present the commissioning experience, s ystem optimization, and the first results from the Nb3Sn fabrication on flat samples and SRF cavities.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Mock-up Waveguide Loop Development toward a half-meter scale Traveling-Wave (TW) SRF cavity

Traveling-Wave (TW) technology can push the accelera-tor field gradient of niobium SRF cavity to 70MV/m or higher beyond the fundamental limit of 50~60MV/m in Standing-Wave regime. The success of TW resonance excitation in a proof-of-principle 3-cell SRF cavity in 2K liquid helium encouraged to advance TW technologies necessary more for future accelerator-scale one. Fermilab has proposed a preliminary RF design of a half-meter scale TW cavity by considering the physical dimensions of existing SRF facilities and the lessons learned from the 3-cell. It consists of a 7-cell structure and a power feed-back waveguide (WG) loop with new TW excitation and control schemes such as, double directional coupler and two WG tuners. Mock-up waveguide loop development was launched under Fermilab LDRD program to demon-strate those new RF schemes at a room temperature. Fab-rication drawings of a mock-up loop were completed. Here details and plans of the development are reported.

Furuta, F. [Fermilab] (ORCID:0009000072218576)↗

Neural-Network Inverse Design of SRF Cavities and Transmons for Bosonic Quantum Computation

Three-dimensional superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities provide exceptionally long-lived electromagnetic modes and, when coupled to nonlinear elements such as transmon qubits, become promising architectures for bosonic quantum information processing. The inverse design of such systems, i.e., recovering device geometries that produce specified electromagnetic and coupling targets, is generally a one-to-many problem. The qubit-cavity coupling strength depends sensitively on both the transmon geometry and its position within the cavity's electromagnetic field. As these systems scale up and their design parameter spaces grow, the cost of conventional iterative simulation becomes prohibitive. We present two deep neural network (DNN) approaches that address this inverse-design problem at complementary levels of the design stack. The first proposes SRF cavity geometries that produce target cavity observables. The second proposes transmon qubit designs that produce target qubit-cavity parameters - the coupling rate, qubit frequency, and anharmonicity $(g, ν_q, α)$. The recovered candidate designs match the targets to within ~5% (cavity) and ~2% (transmon), confirmed by end-to-end re-simulation. Both approaches map desired device behavior directly to candidate designs, a fast alternative to the iterative simulation studies usually required.

Yaker, Joseph [Fermilab; Northwestern U.]↗

Evaluation of Anisotropic Magnetoresistive (AMR) Sensors for a Magnetic Field Scanning System for SRF Cavities

One of the significant causes of residual losses in superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities is trapped magnetic flux. The flux trapping mechanism depends on many factors that include cool-down conditions, surface preparation techniques, and ambient magnetic field orientation. Suitable diagnostic tools are not yet available to quantitatively correlate such factors’ effect on the flux trapping mechanism. A magnetic field scanning system (MFSS) consisting of AMR sensors, fluxgate magnetometers, or Hall probes is recently commissioned to scan the local magnetic field of trapped vortices around 1.3 GHz single-cell SRF cavities. In this contribution, we will present results from sensitivity calibration and the first tests of AMR sensors in the MFSS.

Parajuli, I. P.↗

Co-Sputtering of Nb3Sn into SRF Cavity Using Composite Target and Optimizing Surface Homogeneity

Nb₃Sn coating method for superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavity has been developed following co-sputtering of Nb-Sn composite target using a DC cylindrical sputter coater. Deposition parameters and annealing strategies were optimized for uniform Nb₃Sn coating. 1.5 m Nb-Sn film was deposited onto 2.6 GHz Nb SRF cavity and annealed at 600 C for 6 h, followed by 950 C for 1 h. Cryogenic RF testing confirmed Nb₃Sn formation with Tc = 17.8 K. A post-annealing light Sn recoating process improved the cavity s performance, achieving Q₀ = 8.5 10⁸ at 2.0 K.

Shakel, M. S. [Old Dominion U.]↗

Field Emission Mitigation in CEBAF SRF Cavities Using Deep Learning

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) operates hundreds of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities in its two main linear accelerators. Field emission can occur when the cavities are set to high operating RF gradients and is an ongoing operational challenge. This is especially true in newer, higher gradient SRF cavities. Field emission results in damage to accelerator hardware, generates high levels of neutron and gamma radiation, and has deleterious effects on CEBAF operations. So, field emission reduction is imperative for the reliable, high gradient operation of CEBAF that is required by experimenters. Here we explore the use of deep learning architectures via multilayer perceptron to simultaneously model radiation measurements at multiple detectors in response to arbitrary gradient distributions. These models are trained on collected data and could be used to minimize the radiation production through gradient redistribution. This work builds on previous efforts in developing machine learning (ML) models, and is able to produce similar model performance as our previous ML model without requiring knowledge of the field emission onset for each cavity.

Ahammed, K.↗

Field Emission Mitigation in CEBAF SRF Cavities Using Deep Learning

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) operates hundreds of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities in its two main linear accelerators. Field emission can occur when the cavities are set to high operating RF gradients and is an ongoing operational challenge. This is especially true in newer, higher gradient SRF cavities. Field emission results in damage to accelerator hardware, generates high levels of neutron and gamma radiation, and has deleterious effects on CEBAF operations. So, field emission reduction is imperative for the reliable, high gradient operation of CEBAF that is required by experimenters. Here we explore the use of deep learning architectures via multilayer perceptron to simultaneously model radiation measurements at multiple detectors in response to arbitrary gradient distributions. These models are trained on collected data and could be used to minimize the radiation production through gradient redistribution. This work builds on previous efforts in developing machine learning (ML) models, and is able to produce similar model performance as our previous ML model without requiring knowledge of the field emission onset for each cavity.

Ahammed, K.↗