Running experience with the vacuum system of the superconducting linac of the TESLA Test Facility

The superconducting linear accelerator of the TESLA Test Facility (TTF) at DESY/Hamburg is running successfully since several years. The main focus was so far on machine developments as well as on a proof of principle experiment for a self amplifying spontaneous emission free electron laser (SASE FEL) for the proposed 500 GeV e + e − linear collider TESLA with integrated X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) laboratory. Presently, the machine is substantially modified to become a VUV-FEL user facility with tunable wavelengths in the nm range within 2004. The beam pipe of the accelerator contains sections operated at room temperature as well as at 2 K in the areas of the superconducting structures used for acceleration of the beam. Three cryogenic modules, each containing 8 solid niobium cavities have been tested. In addition to standard UHV requirements, the vacuum system for this machine needs to preserve the cleanliness of the superconducting cavity surfaces. Thus the preparation of all vacuum components includes cleaning steps to remove particle contaminations, installation of components into the machine under local clean rooms and special procedures for pump down and venting.