arXiv subjects

Sergio Calatroni

Publications and source records attributed to Sergio Calatroni.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Classification of vacuum arc breakdowns in a pulsed DC system

Understanding the microscopic phenomena behind vacuum arc ignition and generation is crucial for being able to control the breakdown rate, thus improving the effectiveness of many high-voltage applications where frequent breakdowns limit the operation. In this work, statistical properties of various aspects of breakdown, such as the number of pulses between breakdowns, breakdown locations and crater sizes are studied independently with almost identical Pulsed DC Systems at the University of Helsinki and in CERN. In high-gradient experiments, copper electrodes with parallel plate capacitor geometry, undergo thousands of breakdowns. The results support the classification of the events into primary and secondary breakdowns, based on the distance and number of pulses between two breakdowns. Primary events follow a power law on the log--log scale with the slope $α\approx 1.33$, while the secondaries are highly dependent on the pulsing parameters.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2019

High Frequency Nonlinear Response of Superconducting Cavity-Grade Nb surfaces

Nb Superconducting Radio-Frequency (SRF) cavities are observed to break down and lose their high-Q superconducting properties at accelerating gradients below the limits imposed by theory. The microscopic origins of SRF cavity breakdown are still a matter of some debate. To investigate these microscopic issues temperature and power dependent local third harmonic response was measured on bulk Nb and Nb thin film samples using a novel near-field magnetic microwave microscope between 2.9K-10K and 2GHz-6GHz. Both periodic and non-periodic response as a function of applied RF field amplitude are observed. We attribute these features to extrinsic and intrinsic nonlinear responses of the sample. The RF-current-biased Resistively Shunted Junction (RSJ) model can account for the periodic response and fits very well to the data using reasonable parameters. The non-periodic response is consistent with vortex semi-loops penetrating into the bulk of the sample once sufficiently high RF magnetic field is applied, and the data can be fit to a Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) model of this process. The fact that these responses are measured on a wide variety of Nb samples suggests that we have captured the generic nonlinear response of air-exposed Nb surfaces.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Vacuum electrical breakdown conditioning study in a parallel plate electrode pulsed DC system

Conditioning of a metal structure in a high-voltage system is the progressive development of resistance to vacuum arcing over the operational life of the system. This is, for instance, seen during the initial operation of radio frequency (rf) cavities in particle accelerators. It is a relevant topic for any technology where breakdown limits performance, and where conditioning continues for a significant duration of system runtime. Projected future linear accelerators require structures with accelerating gradients of up to 100 MV/m. Currently, this performance level is only achievable after a multi-month conditioning period. In this work, a pulsed DC system applying voltage pulses over parallel disk electrodes was used to study the conditioning process, with the objective of obtaining insight into its underlying mechanics, and ultimately, to find ways to shorten the conditioning process. Two kinds of copper electrodes were tested: As-prepared machine-turned electrodes ("hard" copper), and electrodes that additionally had been subjected to high temperature treatments ("soft" copper). The conditioning behaviour of the soft electrodes was found to be similar to that of comparably treated accelerating structures, indicating a similar conditioning process. The hard electrodes reached the same ultimate performance as the soft electrodes much faster, with a difference of more than an order of magnitude in the number of applied voltage pulses. Two distinctly different distributions of breakdown locations were observed on the two types of electrodes. Considered together, our results support the crystal structure dislocation theory of breakdown, and suggest that the conditioning of copper in high field systems such as rf accelerating structures is dominated by material hardening.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Simple model for the RF field amplitude dependence of the trapped flux sensitivity in superconducting RF cavities

The improvement of the performance of RF superconducting cavities has recently motivated a considerable research effort in order to elucidate the effect of trapped magnetic flux on the surface resistance $R_{s}$. In this paper we show that by introducing a non-linear pinning force in the Gittleman-Rosenblum equations for the RF power dissipation due to a trapped magnetic flux in a superconductor, we can empirically describe the linear dependence on the RF field amplitude $B_{rf0}$ of the additional surface resistance $R_{fl}$. We also show that the proportionality between the RF-field dependent and independent terms $R_{fl}^{1}$ and $R_{fl}^{0}$, and the frequency dependence of $R_{fl}^{1}$ follow naturally from this approach.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Measurement of the dynamic response of the CERN DC spark system and preliminary estimates of the breakdown turn-on time

The new High Repetition Rate (HRR) CERN DC Spark System has been used to investigate the current and voltage time structure of a breakdown. Simulations indicate that vacuum breakdowns develop on ns timescales or even less. An experimental benchmark for this timescale is critical for comparison to simulations. The fast rise time of breakdown may provide some explanation of the particularly high gradients achieved by low group velocity, and narrow bandwidth, accelerating structures such as the T18 and T24. Voltage and current measurements made with the previous system indicated that the transient responses measured were dominated by the inherent capacitances and inductances of the DC spark system itself. The bandwidth limitations of the HRR system are far less severe allowing rise times of approximately 12ns to be measured.

physics.acc-ph↗