17–22 May 2026
C.I.D
Europe/Zurich timezone

Development of in situ thickness sensor for vapor diffused Nb3Sn films

TUP7339
19 May 2026, 16:00
2h
C.I.D

C.I.D

Deauville, France
Poster Presentation MC7.T07: Superconducting RF 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 a four-point resistance measurement of a thin film of niobium, inside the coating region. During coating, the change in resistance reflects the conversion of the film from Nb to Nb3Sn, which allows simple integration with the current furnace infrastructure. This sensor would allow real time measurement of the Nb3Sn film thickness, allowing for increased precision in future depositions for cavity applications.

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.

In which format do you inted to submit your paper? LaTeX

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)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.