The conceptional design of the proposed linear electron-positron collider TESLA is based on 9-cell 1.3 GHz superconducting niobium cavities with an accelerating gradient of E acc $ 25 MV͞m at a quality factor Q 0 $ 5 3 10 9 . The design goal for the cavities of the TESLA Test Facility (TTF) linac was set to the more moderate value of E acc $ 15 MV͞m. In a first series of 27 industrially produced TTF cavities the average gradient at Q 0 5 3 10 9 was measured to be 20.1 6 6.2 MV͞m, excluding a few cavities suffering from serious fabrication or material defects. In the second production of 24 TTF cavities, additional quality control measures were introduced, in particular, an eddy-current scan to eliminate niobium sheets with foreign material inclusions and stringent prescriptions for carrying out the electronbeam welds. The average gradient of these cavities at Q 0 5 3 10 9 amounts to 25.0 6 3.2 MV͞m with the exception of one cavity suffering from a weld defect. Hence only a moderate improvement in production and preparation techniques will be needed to meet the ambitious TESLA goal with an adequate safety margin. In this paper we present a detailed description of the design, fabrication, and preparation of the TESLA Test Facility cavities and their associated components and report on cavity performance in test cryostats and with electron beam in the TTF linac. The ongoing research and development towards higher gradients is briefly addressed.

We present the first observation of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) in a free-electron laser (FEL) in the vacuum ultraviolet regime at 109 nm wavelength (11 eV). The observed free-electron laser gain (approximately 3000) and the radiation characteristics, such as dependency on bunch charge, angular distribution, spectral width, and intensity fluctuations, are all consistent with the present models for SASE FELs.

No abstract

Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) for transmutation of nuclear waste typically require 350 MeV–1 GeV accelerators delivering proton fluxes of 5–10 mA for demonstrators, and 20–50 mA for large industrial systems. Thus, such machines belong to the category of the so-called HPPA (High-Power Proton Accelerators), with multi-megawatt beam power. HPPA are presently developed and constructed at great pace for their broad utility in fundamental or applied science. Compared to other HPPA, many features and requirements are similar for the ADS driver. However, there is a need for exceptional reliability: because of the induced thermal stress to the sub-critical core, the number of unwanted “beam-trips” should not exceed a few per year, a requirement that is several orders of magnitude above usual performance. Consecutive to the work of the European Technical Working Group (ETWG) on ADS, the Preliminary Design Study of an Experimental ADS (PDS-XADS) was launched in 2001 as a 5th Framework Program EC project.1 A special Working Package (WP3) was dedicated to the accelerator design, taking especially into account that the issue of “beam-trips” could be a potential “show-stopper” for ADS technology in general. A reference solution, based on a linear superconducting accelerator with its associated doubly achromatic beam line, has been worked out to some detail. For high reliability, the proposed design is intrinsically fault tolerant, relying on highly modular “de-rated” components associated to a fast digital feedback system. The proposed solution also appears to be robust concerning operational aspects like maintenance and radioprotection. A roadmap for construction as well as the required consolidated budget was elaborated. A program for the remaining R&D, focused on experimental reliability demonstration of prototypical components has been elaborated. This R&D will be performed in the 6th Framework Program EC project EUROTRANS,2 which presently is just starting