Mechanical design upgrade of the APS storage ring RF cavity tuner

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring (SR) RF system employs four banks of four spherical, single-cell resonant cavities. Each cavity is tuned by varying the cavity volume through insertion/retraction of a copper piston located at the circumference of the cavity and oriented perpendicular to the accelerator beam. During the commissioning of the APS SR, the tuners and cavity tuner ports were prone to extensive arcing and overheating. The existing tuners were modified to eliminate the problems, and two new, redesigned tuners were installed. In both cases marked improvements were obtained in the tuner mechanical performance. As measured by tuner piston and flange surface temperatures, tuner heating has been reduced by a factor of five in the new version. Redesign considerations discussed include tuner piston-to-housing alignment, tuner piston and housing materials and cooling configurations, and tuner piston sliding electrical contacts. The tuner redesign is also distinguished by a modular, more maintainable assembly.