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LCLS-II 4 GeV linac is on the middle production stage. Linac contains 40 cryomodules of 1.3 GHz and 3 cryomodules of 3.9 GHz, including spares. Fermilab and JLAB share responsibility for cryomodule design, assembly and test. Paper will overview the performance of the cryomodules it the tests, lessons learned and modifications in design to improve performance.
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is currently constructing a major upgrade to its accelerator, the Linac Coherent Light Source II (LCLS-II). Several Department of Energy laboratories, including the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), are collaborating in this project. The cryomodules for this project each consist of eight 1.3-GHz cavities produced by two vendors, Research Instruments GmbH in Germany (RI*) and Ettore Zanon S.p.a. in Italy (EZ*), using niobium cell material from Tokyo Denkai Co., Ltd. (TD) and Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co., Ltd. (OTIC/NX)). During the initial production run, cavity performance from one of the vendors (Vendor A) was far below expectation. All the cavities had low Q0, later attributed to minimal EP as well as high-flux-trapping NX material, early quench behaviour below 18 MV/m, with many having Q0 roll-off at 12-16 MV/m. Production was stopped multiple times over the following 6 months, with test batches of cavities being made to ascertain the root cause of the problem. The final root cause of the problem was found to be inappropriate grinding of the RF surface prior to welding which left normal conducting inclusions in the surface. In addition, most cavities showed internal and external weld spatter which required post weld grinding and a very rough surface from operating the electropolishing machine in an etching rather than polishing regime. All issues have been corrected on new cavities and rework is underway on the originally effected cavities.
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is currently constructing a major upgrade to its accelerator, the Linac Coherent Light Source II (LCLS-II). Several Department of Energy national laboratories, including the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab), are participating in this project. JLab is responsible for procuring a number of critical components. Over the course of this project, JLab has evolved several procurement strategies to minimize risk and improve performance while working within the constraints of budget and schedule. This paper discusses the impact of procurement choices on project technical success.
The LCLS-II project calls for cryomodule production and testing at both Fermilab and JLab. Due to low beam loading and high cavity quality factor, the designed peak detuning specification is 10 Hz. Initial testing showed peak detuning up to 150 Hz with a complex and varying time-structure, showing both fast (1-2 second) and slow (1-2 hour) drifts in amplitude and spectrum. Extensive warm and cold testing showed Thermoacoustic Oscillations in the cryogenic valves were the primary source of the microphonics. This was mitigated by valve wipers and valve re-plumbing, resulting in a greatly improved cavity detuning environment. Additional modifications were made to the cavity mechanical supports and Fermilab test stand to improve detuning performance. These modifications and testing results will be presented.
LCLS-II 1.3 GHz cryomodule production is well underway at Fermilab. Several dozen cavity/tuner systems have been tested, including tuning to 1.3 GHz, cold landing frequency, range/sensitivity of the slow tuner, and range/sensitivity of the fast tuner. All this testing information as well as lessons learned from tuner installation will be presented.
Initial LCLS-II cryomodule testing at Fermilab showed microphonics on the furthest upstream cavity (number 1) at least factor 2 larger than on the rest of the cavities. Testing indicated that this was a difference in the mechanical support of cavity 1, not a local acoustic source. Further investigation pointed to the upstream beam-pipe of the cavity 1. The upstream cavity flange has a solid spool piece connection to the beamline gate valve unlike the other cavities, which all connect through bellows. The gate valve's weight is supported by sliding system (free in z-axis) connected to large diameter Helium gas return pipe. The tuner design was modified to transform interface between cavity#1 and gate valve. Arms of the tuner for cavity 1 were extended and became the support structure for gate valve, eliminating the connection to the helium return pipe. Modification of the tuner design and results in microphonics mitigations will be presented.
LCLS-II linac requires two 3.9 GHz cryomodules (eight cavities per CM), operating up to 16MV/m in cw regime. Fermilab has designed and built few prototypes of the cavity and auxiliaries and tested them at the vertical and horizontal cryostats. Fundamental power coupler, based on existing design (FLASH, XFEL) was redesign for 2kW average power. We built three prototypes and tested them at room temperature test stand. One coupler was assembled on the cavity and tested at horizontal cryostat as part of design verification program. Test results and comparison with simulations are discussed in this paper.
The LCLS-II HE superconducting linac can produce multi-energy beams by supporting multiple undulator lines simultaneously. This could be achieved by using the cavity SRF tuner in the off-frequency detune mode. This off-frequency operation method was tested in 8 cryomodules at Fermilab at 2 K. In all the tests the tuners successfully achieved a frequency shift of -565±80 kHz from the 1.3 GHz value. This study discusses the cavity frequency during each stage of assembly from the cryomodule string to when they are finally tested at 2 K. Monitoring the cavity frequency from this initial stage contributed in reaching this large frequency shift. The specific procedures of tuner setting during assembly will be presented.
Pansophy is an Engineering Data Management System that provides a comprehensive solution for managing information in the production and testing of cryomodules. It is especially suited to supporting the Data & Quality Management Systems for large projects like LCLS-II. With extensive amounts of data collected for an individual project, data retrieval to facilitate feedback and enhancement of production and processing activities is a high priority. The priority shares importance with the needs of managing the project, including production status, NCR, and Quality Management reports. Recent Pansophy enhancements have been to Data and Quality management reports and statistical analysis. Such enhancements include a database driven menu system, extended MSWord macro and preprocessing of travelers, and an extensive reporting system. The reporting system allows managers and group leaders to quickly respond to the needs of the project in areas of cavity and cryomodule production, data collection, NCR, Quality Management and schedule. Extensions include integration with the SRF inventory system PRIMeS, allowing traceability from receiving of manufactured parts to final cryomodule product.
Cryomodule production for LCLS-II is well underway at Jefferson Lab. This paper explains the process flow for production cavities, from being received at the Test Lab to being assembled onto cavity strings. Taking our facility and infrastructure into consideration, process optimization and process control are implemented to ensure high quality products.
Despite continuously evolving efforts to minimize and manage the occurrence of particulates in operational SRF accelerator systems, the presence of electron field emission from contaminating particulates on SRF surfaces with high surface electric fields remains a consistent challenge. Jefferson Lab has recently initiated a standardized particulate sampling and characterization practice in order to gain more specific and systematic knowledge of the particulates actually present. It is expected that patterns emerging from such sampling will strengthen source attribution and guide improvement efforts. Initial samples were gathered from a cryomodule and adjoining warm girders that were removed from the CEBAF tunnel for reprocessing. The collection and analysis techniques were also used to characterize particulates on the inside of LCLS-II string components. Samples are transferred to clean industry-standard forensic GSR carbon tape spindles and examined via automated cleanroom SEM scanning for particle localization trends and sizing. The particulates are subsequently analyzed with EDS for elemental composition. A catalogue of found particle types is being accumulated. The methods used and results obtained from these initial applications will be presented.
Plasma cleaning for LCLS-II 9-cell 1.3 GHz cavities is under study at Fermilab. Starting from ORNL method, we have developed a new technique for plasma ignition using HOMs. Plasma processing is being applied to contaminated and field emitting cavities, here are discussed the first results in terms of Q and radiation vs E measured before and after treatment. Further studies are ongoing to optimize plasma parameters and to acquire statistics on plasma cleaning effectiveness.
The Cryomodule Test Stand (CMTS1) at Fermilab has been engaged with testing 8-cavity 1.3 GHz cryomodules designed and assembled for the LCLS-II project at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory since 2016. Over these three years twenty cryomodules have been cooled to 2K and power tested in continuous wave mode on a roughly once per month cycle. Test stand layout and testing procedures are presented together with results from the cryomodules tested to date. Lessons learned and future plans will also be shared.
During the LCLS-II project a second batch of niobium was procured from Tokyo Denkai Co Ltd in order to make additional cavities. The original production material came from Two vendors Tokyo Denkai Co., Ltd. (TD) and Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co., Ltd. (OTIC/NX)). It was found TD niobium required a lower annealing temperature (900°C) to obtain satisfactory flux expulsion characteristics compared to NX which required a slightly higher annealing temperature (950°-975°C). In order to ensure the new TD material performed equivalent to the niobium produced 4 year before after 900°C annealing; each heat lot of niobium had its flux expulsion characteristics parametrized and custom thermal treatments developed for each lot. Subsequent pure heat lot 9 cell cavities were made and tested. We will look at the flux expulsion characteristics of each lot, and RF loss of the 9-cell cavities produced using the individual heat lots.
The Linear Coherent Light Source (LCLS-II) is currently being constructed at the SLAC National Laboratory. A total of 35 cryomodules will be fabricated at Jefferson Lab (JLab) in Virginia and Fermi National Laboratory (FNAL) in Illinois and transported via road to SLAC. A shipping frame with an inner bed isolated by springs was designed to protect the CMs from shocks and vibrations during shipments. Successful road testing of the JLab prototype paved the way for production CM shipments. The initial production shipments lead to several catastrophic failures in beamline vacuum in the cryomodules. The failures were determined to be due to fatigue in Fundamental Power Coupler (FPC) bellows due to excessive motion during shipment. A series of instrumented CM shipping tests and component tests were undertaken to develop a solution. A modified spring layout was tested and implemented, which reduced shocks on the CMs. FPC coupler bellows restraints were tested on a shaker table and on a CM during shipping; they were able to reduce bellows motion by a factor of three. The updated shipping system is currently in use and has successfully delivered six cryomodules to SLAC from JLab and FNAL.
The off-frequency detune method is being considered to be applied in the LCLS-II-HE superconducting linac to produce multi-energy electron beams for supporting multiple undulator lines simultaneously. To deliver off-frequency operation (OFO) requirements for SRF cavity tuner must be changed. Tuner design modifications and results of the testing eight cavity/tuner system, deployed in verification cryomodule (vCM), will be presented.
Acceptance testing of the LCLS-II-HE production cavities is approximately 65% complete. In this report, we present details of the test results, including summaries of the quench fields, intrinsic quality factors, and experience with field emission. We also offer an outlook on the remaining tests to be performed.
Nitrogen-doped niobium SRF cavities are sensitive to trapped magnetic flux, which decreases the cavity intrinsic Q₀. Prior experimental results have shown that heat treatments to 900°C and higher can result in stronger flux expulsion during cooldown; the precise temperature required tends to vary by vendor lot/ingot of the niobium material used in the cavity cells. For LCLS-II-HE, to ensure sufficient flux expulsion in all cavities, we built and tested single-cell cavities to determine this required temperature for each vendor lot of niobium material to be used in cavity cells. In this report, we present the results of the single-cell flux expulsion testing and the Q₀ of the nine-cell cavities built using the characterized vendor lots. We discuss mixing material from different vendor lots, examine the lessons learned, and finally present an outlook on possible refinements to the single-cell technique.