"Superconducting Radio Frequency particle accelerator cavity design/testing "
Profs. Robert S. Orr and William Trischuk
While the current generation of collider physics experiments relies on extensive arrays of superconducting magnets to trap the particles, keep them orbiting and bring them into collision the next generation of experiments will rely on similarly extensive arrays of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities to provide high-field, cost-effective acceleration to energies of 1 TeV (or higher).
Our group is collaborating with
TRIUMF and a Canadian manufacturer to develop SRF cavities for
use in a low energy accelerator for use in radioactive isotope
production on the TRIUMF campus
(the
eLINAC ), but also an upgrade to the injector
for
CERN's large hadron collider and ultimately for a next generation
electron positron
collider:
the ILC . Over the past year, we have developed a
novel ``second sound'' detector that
can be used to triangulate acoustic signals generated by quenches of the SRF cavities caused by manufacturing
defects of impurities. We
described these detectors at the 2011 Congress of the Canadian Association of Physicists.
These detectors have been used in the test
cryostats at TRIUMF, and we expect to perform extensive tests this summer. At Toronto, we are also developing a system
to measure the millikelvin temperature rises, at the surface of the cavities, associated with the onset of electron field emission.
We have an opening for a summer-student to work in our group this
summer. There may also be the opportunity for the student to
work on the cavity field simulations and spend a week or two at TRIUMF
during a prototype cavity test.