CLASSE, Ithaca, New York
In the recent years, RF cavity performance has reached close to the theoretical limit for bulk niobium. Striving for further improvement in RF cavity performance for future accelerator projects has brought a renewed research interest to superconducting materials other than niobium. Higher-Tc superconductors suitable for SRF applications are being investigated in different laboratories, universities and companies around the world. In my talk I will focus on two of the prospective superconductors, NbN and MgB2, presenting the coating methods and RF properties at low and high fields.
LANL, Los Alamos, New Mexico
Activities related to superconducting RF at LANL in the last 2 years are presented. They include developments of a full cavity thermometry system for standard 1.3 GHz 9-cell cavities, a surface inspection system and high-gradient SRF cavities at 805 MHz, the frequency at which LANL’s 800-MeV proton accelerator operates, in order to boost the energy to ~1.2 GeV with only 2 cryomodules. Additionally, we have been studying thin-film superconductors coated on Nb separated by an insulator to increase achievable surface magnetic field for very high accelerating gradient (hopefully ~100 MV/m or higher) to realize a compact accelerator system. High gradient SRF cavities would benefit such applications as the International Linear Collider (ILC), XFELs and cargo interrogation systems using proton or muon beams,
