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Title: Review of ingot niobium as a material for superconducting radiofrequency accelerating cavities

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
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  1. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
  2. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
  3. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)

As a result of collaboration between Jefferson Lab and niobium manufacturer Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), ingot niobium was explored as a possible material for superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavity fabrication. The first single cell cavity from large-grain high purity niobium was fabricated and successfully tested at Jefferson Lab in 2004. This work triggered research activities in other SRF laboratories around the world. The large-grain (LG) niobium became not only an interesting alternative material for cavity builders, but also material scientists and surface scientists were eager to participate in the development of this technology. Many single cell cavities made from material of different suppliers have been tested successfully and several multi-cell cavities have shown performances comparable to the best cavities made from standard fine-grain niobium. Several 9-cell cavities fabricated by Research Instruments and tested at DESY exceeded the best performing fine grain cavities with a record accelerating gradient of Eacc=45.6 MV/m. The quality factor of those cavities was also higher than that of fine-grain (FG) cavities processed with the same methods. Such performance levels push the state-of-the art of SRF technology and are of great interest for future accelerators. This contribution reviews the development of ingot niobium technology and highlights some of the differences compared to standard FG material and opportunities for further developments.

Research Organization:
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-06OR23177
OSTI ID:
1165555
Report Number(s):
JLAB-ACC-14-1913; DOE/OR/23177-3250
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 774, Issue C; ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 31 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Surface processing for bulk niobium superconducting radio frequency cavities journal February 2017
Evidence for preferential flux flow at the grain boundaries of superconducting RF-quality niobium journal February 2018
Superconducting radio-frequency cavities made from medium and low-purity niobium ingots journal April 2016

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