Investigation of local losses as a function of material removal in a large-grain superconducting niobium cavity

The performance of a superconducting radio-frequency (RF) cavity made of residual resistivity ratio (RRR) > 200 large-grain niobium has been investigated as a function of material removal, between 70 and 240 ?m, by buffered chemical polishing (BCP). Temperature maps of the cavity surface at 1.7 and 2.0 K were taken for each step of chemical etching and revealed localized losses (''hot-spots''), which contribute to the degradation of the cavity quality factor as a function of the RF surface field. It was found that the number of ''hot-spots'' decreased for larger material removal. Interestingly, the losses at the ''hot-spots'' at different locations evolved differently for successive material removal. The cavity achieved peak surface magnetic fields of about of 130 mT and was limited mostly by thermal quench. By measuring the temperature dependence of the surface resistance (Rs) at low field between 4.2 K and 1.7 K, the variation of material parameters such as the energy gap at 0 K, the residual resistance and the mean free path as a function of material removal could also be investigated. This contribution presents the results of the RF tests along with the temperature maps and the analysis of the losses caused by the ''hot-spots''