superconducting radio-frequency technology
From the Daily Herald, April 22, 2022: Fermilab’s PIP-II accelerator project has received full approval from the Department of Energy for construction, including a new superconducting radio-frequency linear particle accelerator that will help scientists in their quest to better understand our universe.
Accelerator experts at three national labs have advanced the next generation of cryomodules, the building blocks of particle accelerators. A prototype built for the high-energy upgrade of SLAC’s LCLS-II X-ray laser has advanced the state of the art, packing more acceleration into a smaller distance, and could dramatically improve future accelerators.
This spring testing wrapped up at the PIP-II Injector Test Facility, or PIP2IT. The successful outcome paves the way for the construction of PIP-II, a new particle accelerator that will power record-breaking neutrino beams and drive a broad physics research program at Fermilab for the next 50 years.
From APS Physics, Dec. 4, 2020: Scientists are finding ways to increase particle accelerator efficiency. One way to reduce cooling costs relies on a technique developed at Fermilab and Jefferson Lab.
From CERN Courier, Nov. 10, 2020: Established 30 years ago with a linear electron-positron collider in mind, the TESLA Technology Collaboration has played a major role in the development of superconducting radio-frequency cavities and related technologies for a wide variety of applications. The first decade of the 21st century saw the TTC broaden its reach, for example, gradually opening to the community working on proton superconducting cavities, such as the half-wave resonator string collaboratively developed at Argonne National Lab and now destined for use in PIP-II at Fermilab.
One of the most difficult problems to overcome in developing a quantum computer is finding a way to maintain the lifespan of information held in quantum bits, called qubits. Researchers at Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory are working to determine whether devices used in particle accelerators can help solve the problem. The team will run simulations on high-performance computers that will enable them to predict the lifespan of information held within these qubits using smaller versions of these devices, taking us one step closer to the age of quantum computing.
From Northwestern University, Nov. 8, 2019: Northwestern and Fermilab researchers, including Fermilab scientists Anna Grassellino and Alexander Romanenko, show how impurities can increase the maximum accelerating field of superconducting radio-frequency cavities, a finding with huge potential cost advantages.