18–26 Sept 2025
Ito International Research Center
Asia/Tokyo timezone

Identifying the connections between grain growth and flux expulsion in low RRR niobium SRF cavities

TUP10
23 Sept 2025, 14:30
3h
Ito International Research Center

Ito International Research Center

Tokyo
Board: TUP10
Student Poster Presentation MC2: Fundamental SRF research and development Tuesday Poster Session

Speaker

Katrina Howard (University of Chicago)

Description

The SRF community has shown that high temperature annealing can improve the flux expulsion of niobium cavities during cooldown. The required temperature will vary between cavities and different batches of material, typically around 800 C and up to 1000 C. However, for niobium with a low residual resistance ratio (RRR), even 1000 C is not enough to improve its poor flux expulsion. The purpose of this study is to observe the grain growth behavior of low RRR niobium coupons subjected to high temperature annealing to identify the mechanism for improving flux expulsion. We observe that low RRR material experiences less grain growth than high RRR when annealed at the same temperature. We search for the limitations to grain growth in low RRR material and develop a diagnostic based on grain structure to determine the appropriate recipe for good flux expulsion. The results of this study have the potential to unlock a new understanding on SRF materials and enable the next generation of high Q/high gradient surface treatments.

Funding Agency

Work supported by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, managed and operated by Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC under Contract No. 89243024CSC000002 with the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Author

Katrina Howard (University of Chicago)

Co-authors

Daniel Bafia (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Zuhawn Sung (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Wieslawa Dziedzic-Misiewicz (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Young-Kee Kim (University of Chicago, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)

Presentation materials

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