• S. Kato, M. Nishiwaki
  KEK, Ibaraki
• S. Azuma, F. Yamamoto
  Ultra Finish Technology Co., Ltd., Yokosuka
• P.V. Tyagi
  Sokendai, Ibaraki

Niobium electropolishing for SRF cavities are generally considered to be the best technology today. However, hydrofluoric and sulphuric acid mixture usually used in the EP process is harmful and requires us carefully controlled handling of it and the many additional facilities. In this article, we propose a new application of electrochemical buffing onto niobium SRF cavity. In the method of electrochemical buffing, a rotating disk with abrasive fine particles where electrolyte is supplied is pressed against the workpiece. The disk and the work function as a cathode and an anode, respectively and an aqueous solution of sodium nitrate is used for the electrolyte. This technique brings us a couple of advantages like high etching rate, ultra small surface roughness, cost-effective and environment-compatible polishing.

• M. Nishiwaki, H. Hayano, S. Kato, T. Saeki, M. Sawabe
  KEK, Ibaraki
• P.V. Tyagi
  Sokendai, Ibaraki

In development of superconducting radio-frequency niobium cavities, there are problems in low performances of electro-polished (EP) cavities with a fresh EP solution due to stains on the surfaces with discoloration. Although the stain problems have been known from the past researches, the detailed study with surface analysis has not been carried out. In this study, the stains on the niobium surfaces were observed with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope. According to results of XPS, there are some differences in atomic components at the stained and non-stained surfaces, ex, a little amount of fluorine and no metal oxide were found only at the stained surface. In this article, we will describe the detail of the XPS results.

• M. Sawabe., H. Hayano, S. Kato, M. Nishiwaki, T. Saeki
  KEK, Ibaraki
• P.V. Tyagi
  Sokendai, Ibaraki

We have constructed an Electro-polishing (EP) Facility in the Superconducting RF Test Facility (STF) at KEK in 2008. The EP facility has been used for the EP process of Superconducting RF (SRF) 9-cell cavities for more than one year. In the EP facility, the capacity of the EP-electrolyte reservoir tank is 2,000 L. This size is relatively large if compared with EP facilities in other laboratories. It means that the quality control of EP electrolyte is more difficult because the status of EP-electrolyte changes as the aging of EP-electrolyte proceeds. In the real EP-process operations, we circulated the EP electrolyte of 1,100 L which was firstly delivered into the tank in January 2008 and was disposed in May 2009. During this period, we performed the EP processes 40 times and periodically measured the concentration of Nb ,Al ,HF in the EP electrolyte. In this article, we report the detailed results of the EP-electrolyte monitoring as well as the observation of changing electronic current oscillation in the EP processes during this period in the EP facility at STF/KEK.

• P.V. Tyagi
  Sokendai, Ibaraki
• H. Hayano, S. Kato, M. Nishiwaki, T. Saeki, M. Sawabe
  KEK, Ibaraki

Buffered chemical polishing (BCP) has been widely used as a final recipe of the surface treatment for niobium cavities and there is still much room to improve this technology since it is environment friendly, cheaper and simpler than electro-polishing. To examine BCPed surface in detail, we carried out BCP experiment followed by various rinsing methods on a series of niobium samples at KEK. As a result of the BCP process some contaminants like fluorine, carbon, etc. have been detected at the surfaces which may be the prominent cause of limiting the performance of SRF cavities. To remove these contaminants, various rinsing processes such as ultra pure water rinse, ultrasonic pure water rinse, alcoholic rinse, detergent rinse, high pressure water rinse (HPR) had been tested after the BCP. The preliminary results show that, only HPR had potential to mitigate these contaminants. In this article, we describe the surface analysis results using X-ray photo electron spectroscopy etc and a comparative study of niobium BCPed samples followed by above mentioned rinsing processes.