• D. Huang, Y. Torun
  IIT, Chicago, Illinois
• A.D. Bross, A. Moretti, Z. Qian
  Fermilab, Batavia
• D. Li, M.S. Zisman
  LBNL, Berkeley, California
• J. Norem
  ANL, Argonne

Funding: The United States Department of Energy

The accelerating gradient in a RF cavity is limited by many factors such as the surface material properties, RF frequency, the external magnetic field and the gas pressure inside the cavity. In the MuCool Program, RF cavities are studied with the aim of understanding these basic mechanisms and improving their maximum stable accelerating gradient. These cavities are being developed for muon ionization cooling channel for a Neutrino Factory or Muon Collider. We report studies using the 805 MHz and 201 MHz RF cavities in the MuCool Test Area (MTA) at Fermilab. New results include data from buttons of different materials mounted in the 805 MHz cavity, study of the accelerating gradient in the 201 MHz cavity and X-ray background radiation from the cavities due to Bremsstrahlung. The 201 MHz cavity has been shown to be stable at 19 MV/m at zero magnetic field, well in excess of its 16 MV/m design gradient. We will also discuss results from the 201 MHz cavity study in magnetic field and introduce the test of E × B effects with the 805 MHz box cavity.

• Y. Torun
  IIT, Chicago, Illinois

Superconducting RF cavities are made of a thin metal shell (typically Niobium) with liquid Helium around it housed within another metal vessel. This geometry is effectively a Cerenkov radiator between two mirrors. Electrons stripped from the inner surface due to field emission can get accelerated by the electric field inside the cavity, punch through the cavity wall and still have enough energy to be faster than light in He. Detection of Cerenkov light generated by the electrons through an optical port integrated into the vessel can serve as a very sensitive diagnostic for field emission in cavity R&D and production as well as in operating superconducting linear accelerators. We report on simulation results for calculating the effective light yield in such a system to establish the feasibility of the technique.