Invited Paper VT+AS+SS-WeM4
Superconducting Niobium for Accelerator Cavities: Status and Prospects

Wednesday, October 31, 2012, 9:00 am, Room 14

Radiofrequency accelerator cavities of superconducting niobium are the technology of choice for a number of recent and coming particle accelerators, largely because of their cost-for-performance. The principal aspects of performance are the amount accelerator needed to achieve a required final beam energy (accelerating gradient, E_acc) and energy consumption (cavity quality factor, Q_o). The former impacts chiefly initial cost; the latter both initial and operating costs. Research and development efforts are bearing fruit for both. Gaining the benefits need not await the construction of new accelerators or major upgrades, as accelerator modules are regularly cycled out of existing machines. A challenge that is under-appreciated by physics researchers, but is well familiar to the AVS community, is the manufacturing excellence needed to translate research progress into hardware on the ground.