Superconducting 500 MHz accelerating copper cavities sputter-coated with niobium films

Thermal breakdown induced either by electron loading or by local defects of enhanced RF losses limits the accelerating field of superconducting niobium cavities. Replacing niobium with a material of higher thermal conductivity would be highly desirable to increase the maximum field. Therefore, cavities made of OFHC copper were coated by D.C. bias sputtering with a thin niobium film (1.5 to 5 μm). Accelerating fields up to 8.6 MVm
^-1
were obtained without observing any field breakdown, the limitation being due to the available rf power. The Q values achieved at 4.2 K and low field were similar to those of niobium sheet cavities (i.e.
\sim 2 \times 10^{9}
), but a fast initial decrease of Q to about 10
⁹
was reproducibly experienced. Subsequent inspection of regions of enhanced rf losses revealed defects the origin of which is under study. The apparatus used for coating the cavities and the results obtained are presented and discussed.