Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

DOI

10.1038/s41598-021-87119-9

Publication Title

Scientific Reports

Volume

11

Issue

1

Pages

1-9

Abstract

Superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) resonator cavities provide extremely high quality factors > 1010 at 1-2 GHz and 2 K in large linear accelerators of high-energy particles. The maximum accelerating field of SRF cavities is limited by penetration of vortices into the superconductor. Present state-of-the-art Nb cavities can withstand up to 50 MV/m accelerating gradients and magnetic fields of 200-240 mT which destroy the low-dissipative Meissner state. Achieving higher accelerating gradients requires superconductors with higher thermodynamic critical fields, of which Nb3Sn has emerged as a leading material for the next generation accelerators. To overcome the problem of low vortex penetration field in Nb3Sn, it has been proposed to coat Nb cavities with thin film Nb3Sn multilayers with dielectric interlayers. Here, we report the growth and multi-technique characterization of stoichiometric Nb3Sn/Al2O3 multilayers with good superconducting and RF properties. We developed an adsorption-controlled growth process by co-sputtering Nb and Sn at high temperatures with a high overpressure of Sn. The cross-sectional scanning electron transmission microscope images show no interdiffusion between Al2O3 and Nb3Sn. Low-field RF measurements suggest that our multilayers have quality factor comparable with cavity-grade Nb at 4.2 K. These results provide a materials platform for the development and optimization of high-performance SIS multilayers which could overcome the intrinsic limits of the Nb cavity technology.

Comments

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Original Publication Citation

Sundahl, C., Makita, J., Welander, P. B., Su, Y.-F., Kametani, F., Xie, L., Zhang, H., Li, L., Gurevich, A., & Eom, C.-B. (2021). Development and characterization of Nb₃n/Al₂0₃ superconducting multilayers for particle accelerators. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1-9, Article 7770. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87119-9

ORCID

0000-0003-0759-8941 (Gurevich)

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