NSTD Research Projects: TRP
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TRP -> Campaign/Number -> TRP 02
TRP 02. Modeling, Fabrication, and Optimization of Niobium Cavities
June 2001 - July 2005
Research Objectives & Methods
This project was tasked with examining the impacts of the design and fabrication technologies for these elliptical niobium cavities on their performance. Niobium was selected primarily due to its behavior at low temperatures.
One objective of this study was to experimentally model the fluid flow resulting in the chemical etching of niobium cavities with the aid of a baffle. Numerical analyses tend to show that the current etching process with a baffle does not uniformly etch the cavity surface. Multiple cavity cell geometries were investigated. Optimization techniques were applied in search of the chemical etching processes, which would lead to cavity walls with near ideal properties.
A Monte Carlo secondary electron emission (SEE) code was modified to provide a statistical study of electron impact from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) cleaned niobium samples at near cryogenic temperatures in an ultra high vacuum environment. A one-of-a-kind secondary electron emission test stand was developed to study, in part, the dynamics of the emitted particles subjected to an electron beam. Coordinating code studies with experiments offers a wealth of knowledge regarding the surface physics of the material that can enhance modeling codes at LANL.
Modeling codes, optimization techniques, and experimentation provided UNLV researchers with a well-rounded study to examine existing and novel niobium cavity designs and cleaning processes for the superconducting radio frequency high-current accelerator.
Researchers
- Robert Schill, Electrical & Computer Engineering
- Mohamed Trabia, Mechanical Engineering
- William Culbreth, Mechanical Engineering
Collaborators
- Tsuyoshi Tajima, Team Leader, Accelerator Physics & Engineering, LANSCE-1, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Students