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

Development of in situ thickness sensor for vapor diffused Nb3Sn films

TUP11
23 Sept 2025, 14:30
3h
Ito International Research Center

Ito International Research Center

Tokyo
Board: TUP11
Student Poster Presentation MC3: Cavities Tuesday Poster Session

Speaker

Katrina Howard (University of Chicago)

Description

Fermilab is one of the leaders in development of vapor diffused Nb3Sn films inside niobium cavities. This material has a higher critical temperature (Tc) than niobium, enabling cavity operation at 4.2 K. This higher operational temperature significantly reduces the infrastructure required for cooling compared to 2 K systems, making superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) technology more accessible. Current deposition methods have relied on iterative testing to determine nominal film thickness, a process that can be time-consuming and imprecise. To address this, we are developing a sensor to measure the thickness of Nb3Sn thin film in situ during vapor diffusion. Our design involves the resistance measurement of a thin film of niobium. During coating, the change in resistance reflects the conversion of the film to Nb3Sn, which allows simple integration with the current furnace infrastructure. This sensor would allow real time measurement of the thickness, allowing for increased precision in future depositions.

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

Grigory Eremeev (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Sam Posen (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Brad Tennis (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Daniel Bafia (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) Young-Kee Kim (University of Chicago, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)

Presentation materials

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