Topographic power spectral density study of the effect of surface treatment processes on niobium for superconducting radio frequency accelerator cavities
Microroughness is viewed as a critical issue for attaining optimum performance of superconducting radio frequency accelerator cavities. The principal surface smoothing methods are buffered chemical polish (BCP) and electropolish (EP). The resulting topography is characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The power spectral density (PSD) of AFM data provides a more thorough description of the topography than a single-value roughness measurement. In this work, one dimensional average PSD functions derived from topography of BCP and EP with different controlled starting conditions and durations have been fitted with a combination of power law, K correlation, and shifted Gaussian models to extract characteristic parameters at different spatial harmonic scales. While the simplest characterizations of these data are not new, the systematic tracking of scale-specific roughness as a function of processing is new and offers feedback for tighter process prescriptions more knowledgably targeted at beneficial niobium topography for superconducting radio frequency applications.
- Research Organization:
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-06OR23177
- OSTI ID:
- 1040711
- Report Number(s):
- JLAB-ACC-12-1487; DOE/OR/23177-1986; TRN: US1202582
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 14, Issue 4; ISSN 1098-4402
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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