Curvature, Hydrogen, Q

The manufacturing of niobium SRF accelerator cavities is plagued by a mobile point defect, hydrogen. For efficient accelerator operation, niobium must function at both high electric and magnetic fields, and is compromised if magnetic impurities are located in the surface regions of the material. The finding that trace hydrogen in niobium can produce structures with magnetic properties is a feature that is not acceptable for a high performance cavity. X-ray diffraction has proved to be the key tool in assessing irreversible process damage to the niobium substrate. In future generations of accelerators, niobium will actually be merely the substrate for more effective superconductors that will allow for more efficient operation. The substrate analogy to the silicon wafer industry is useful since for niobium it may be possible to avoid some of the mistakes made in silicon technology. Because hydrogen attacks niobium on a number of different size scales, there is an inherent complexity in the trouble sources. There are also features in cavity design that are benign, such as local curvature considerations, requiring a fully non symmetric analysis of current flow to be appreciated.