Search

Abstract Resonant feedback circuits are proposed as an alternative to normal modes of conducting wall cavities or lumped circuits in searches for hidden sector particles. The proposed method offers several potential advantages over the most sensitive axion searches to date, including coverage of a wider range of axion masses, the ability to probe many axion masses simultaneously, and the elimination of experimentally troublesome mechanical tuning rod mechanisms. After an outline of the proposed method, we present a noise budget for a straw-man experiment configuration. We show that the proposed experiment has the potential to probe the axion mass range 2–40 μ eV with 38 days of integration time. Other existing and proposed resonant searches for hidden sector particles may also benefit from this approach to detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A beam position monitor (BPM) with the nanometer-scale position resolution and the decay time of approximately 20 ns is developed as an interaction point BPM, to verify the nanometer stabilization of the International Linear Collider beam trains at the Accelerator Test Facility (ATF), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). The developed low- $Q$ cavity BPM consists of a one-cell sensor cavity and a one-cell reference cavity. An electronic system is developed, based on the beam test results, to process the signals from the BPM. The beam position resolution of the low- $Q$ cavity BPM with the electronics system is measured at the ATF2 beam line of KEK, and the results of the beam tests conducted on the developed low- $Q$ cavity-type BPM are described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The discovery of a novel phase-locked frequency comb generated from a monolithic laser with the concurrent processes of self-mode locking (SML) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is reported. It is experimentally shown that the width of the Raman gain can be exploited to considerably expand the frequency comb of a monolithic SML crystal laser via the SRS process. At a pump power of 6.5 W, an output power of 140 mW in the Stokes wave with a pulse width as narrow as 2.9 ps at a pulse repetition rate of 6.615 GHz is obtained. The present finding not only provides useful insights into the monolithic intracavity SRS process but also paves the way for generating mode-locked pulses based on monolithic self-Raman crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of small fine-grained and single-crystal bars, with strain from 0% (recrystallized) to 50%, were given different amounts of chemical polishing. Four-point resistivity (ρ) data was used to characterize the electron scattering from dislocations, hydrogen, and any other trace contaminants. As noted by previous studies, annealed Nb displayed a weak linear increase of ρ (11 K) with polishing time due to hydrogen absorption, and bulk hydrogen concentration did not exceed 15% for 200 μm metal removed. Cold-worked samples displayed steeper slopes with polishing time (after subtracting resistivity due to strain alone), suggesting that dislocations assist the absorption of hydrogen during polishing. Absorption accelerated above 30% strain and 100 μm material removal, with room-temperature hydrogen concentration rising rapidly from 2% up to 5%. This threshold is significant, since superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities are usually polished as-formed, with >35% strain, and polishing removes >150 μm of metal. Resistance jumps between 40 and 150 K, which signal the formation of hydride precipitates, were stronger in cold-worked samples, suggesting that dislocations also assist precipitate nucleation. High-vacuum anneals at 800 °C for 2 h, which are known to fully recrystallize cavity-grade niobium and de-gas hydrogen, removed the 40–150 K jumps and recovered the resistivity increase due to chemical polishing entirely. But, about 30% of the resistivity increase due to cold work remained, possibly due to residual dislocation clusters. Continued annealing only facilitated the diffusion of surface impurities into the bulk and did not recover the initial 0% state. Strain, polishing, and annealing thus appear to combine as irreversible paths that change the material. Bearing this in mind, the significant difference in hydrogen uptake between annealed and cold-worked samples suggests that annealing SRF cavities prior to chemical polishing could greatly reduce hydrogen uptake and storage in the metal, reducing risk of quality-factor loss. This inverts key steps of the present widely-used cavity processing sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the fabrication of niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) particle accelerator cavities procedures are used that chemically or mechanically remove the passivating surface film of niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5). Removal of this film will expose the underlying niobium metal and allow it to react with the processing environment. If these reactions produce hydrogen at sufficient concentrations and rates, then hydrogen will be absorbed and diffuse into the metal. High hydrogen activities could result in supersaturation and the nucleation of hydride phases. If the metal repassivates at the conclusion of the processing step and the passive film blocks hydrogen egress, then the absorbed hydrogen or hydrides could be retained and alter the performance of the metal during subsequent processing steps or in-service. This report examines the feasibility of this hypothesis by first identifying the postulated events, conditions, and reactions and then determining if each is consistent with accepted scientific principles, literature, and data. Established precedent for similar events in other systems was found in the scientific literature and thermodynamic analysis found that the postulated reactions were not only energetically favorable, but produced large driving forces. The hydrogen activity or fugacity required for the reactions to be at equilibrium was determined to indicate the propensity for hydrogen evolution, absorption, and hydride nucleation. The influence of processing conditions and kinetics on the proximity of hydrogen surface coverage to these theoretical values is discussed. This examination found that the hypothesis of hydrogen absorption during SRF processing is consistent with published scientific literature and thermodynamic principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of niobium-based superconducting radio frequency (SRF) particle-accelerator cavities can be sensitive to localized defects that give rise to quenches at high accelerating gradients. In order to identify these material defects on bulk Nb surfaces at their operating frequency and temperature, a wide-bandwidth microwave microscope with localized and strong RF magnetic fields is developed by integrating a magnetic write head into the near-field microwave microscope to enable mapping of the local electrodynamic response in the multi-GHz frequency regime at cryogenic temperatures. This magnetic writer demonstrates a localized and strong RF magnetic field on bulk Nb surface with Bsurface>10² mT and submicron resolution. By measuring the nonlinear response of the superconductor, nonlinearity coming from the nanoscale weak-link Josephson junctions due to the contaminated surface in the cavity-fabrication process is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]