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Continuous-wave photoinjectors operating at high accelerating gradients promise to revolutionize many areas of science and applications. They can establish the basis for a new generation of monochromatic x-ray free electron lasers, high-brightness hadron beams, or a new generation of microchip production. In this Letter we report on the record-performing superconducting rf electron gun with CsK_{2}Sb photocathode. The gun is generating high charge electron bunches (up to 10 nC/bunch) and low transverse emittances, while operating for months with a single photocathode. This achievement opens a new era in generating high-power beams with a very high average brightness.

Crab crossing is essential for high-luminosity colliders. The high-luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) will equip one of its interaction points (IP1) with double-quarter wave (DQW) crab cavities. A DQW cavity is a new generation of deflecting rf cavities that stands out for its compactness and broad frequency separation between fundamental and first high-order modes. The deflecting kick is provided by its fundamental mode. Each HL-LHC DQW cavity shall provide a nominal deflecting voltage of 3.4 MV, although up to 5.0 MV may be required. A proof-of-principle (POP) DQW cavity was limited by quench at 4.6 MV. This paper describes a new, highly optimized cavity, designated the DQW SPS series, which satisfies dimensional, cryogenic, manufacturing, and impedance requirements for beam tests at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and operation in the LHC. Two prototypes of this DQW SPS series were fabricated by U.S. industry and cold tested after following a conventional superconducting radio-frequency surface treatment. Both units outperformed the POP cavity, reaching a deflecting voltage of 5.3–5.9 MV. This voltage—the highest reached by a DQW cavity—is well beyond the nominal voltage of 3.4 MV and may even operate at the ultimate voltage of 5.0 MV with a sufficient margin. This paper covers fabrication, surface preparation, and cryogenic rf test results and implications. Crab crossing is essential for high-luminosity colliders. The High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) will equip one of its Interaction Points (IP1) with Double-Quarter Wave (DQW) crab cavities. A DQW cavity is a new generation of deflecting RF cavities that stands out for its compactness and broad frequency separation between fundamental and first high-order modes. The deflecting kick is provided by its fundamental mode. Each HL-LHC DQW cavity shall provide a nominal deflecting voltage of 3.4 MV, although up to 5.0 MV may be required. A Proof-of-Principle (PoP) DQW cavity was limited by quench at 4.6 MV. This paper describes a new, highly optimized cavity, designated DQW SPS-series, which satisfies dimensional, cryogenic, manufacturing and impedance requirements for beam tests at SPS and operation in LHC. Two prototypes of this DQW SPS-series were fabricated by US industry and cold tested after following conventional SRF surface treatment. Both units outperformed the PoP cavity, reaching a deflecting voltage of 5.3-5.9 MV. This voltage - the highest reached by a DQW cavity - is well beyond the nominal voltage of 3.4 MV and may even operate at the ultimate voltage of 5.0MVwith sufficient margin. This paper covers fabrication, surface preparation and cryogenic RF test results and implications.

Photonuclear reactions with bremsstrahlung photon beams from electron linacs can generate radioisotopes of critical interest. An SRF Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) provides a path to a more diverse and reliable domestic supply of short-lived, high-value, high-demand isotopes in a more compact footprint and at a lower cost than those produced by conventional reactor or ion accelerator methods. Use of an ERL enables increased energy efficiency of the complex through energy recovery of the waste electron beam, high electron currents for high production yields, and reduced neutron production and shielding activation at beam dump components. Simulation studies using G4Beamline/GEANT4 and MCNP6 through MuSim, as well as other simulation codes, will design an ERL-based isotope production facility utilizing bremsstrahlung photon beams from an electron linac. Balancing the isotope production parameters versus energy recovery requirements will inform a choice of isotope production target for future experiments.

We present results from cryogenic tests of the multi-cell superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavity with a photonic band gap (PBG) coupler cell. Achieving high average beam currents is particularly desirable for future light sources and particle colliders based on SRF energy-recovery-linacs (ERLs). Beam current in ERLs is limited by the beam break-up instability, caused by parasitic higher order modes (HOMs) interacting with the beam in accelerating cavities. A PBG cell incorporated in an accelerating cavity can reduce the negative effect of HOMs by providing a frequency selective damping mechanism, thus allowing significantly higher beam currents. The multi-cell cavity was designed and fabricated of niobium. Two cryogenic (vertical) tests were conducted. The high unloaded Q-factor was demonstrated at a temperature of 4.2 K at accelerating gradients up to 3 MV/m. The measured value of the unloaded Q-factor was 1.55 × 108, in agreement with prediction.

We report the results of the recent high power testing of superconducting radio frequency photonic band gap (PBG) accelerator cells. Tests of the two single-cell 2.1 GHz cavities were performed at both 4 and 2 K. An accelerating gradient of 15 MV/m and an unloaded quality factor Q(0) of 4×10(9) were achieved. It has been long realized that PBG structures have great potential in reducing long-range wakefields in accelerators. A PBG structure confines the fundamental TM(01)-like accelerating mode, but does not support higher order modes. Employing PBG cavities to filter out higher order modes in superconducting particle accelerators will allow suppression of dangerous beam instabilities caused by wakefields and thus operation at higher frequencies and significantly higher beam luminosities. This may lead towards a completely new generation of colliders for high energy physics and energy recovery linacs for the free-electron lasers.

The Photo-Injector Test Facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) is an electron accelerator which was built to develop and optimize high brightness electron sources suitable for SASE FEL operation. Currently, in parallel to the operation of the existing setup, a large extension of the facility and its research program is ongoing. The beam line which has a present length of about 13 meters will be extended up to about 21 meters within the next year. Many additional diagnostics components will be added to the present layout. Two high-energy dispersive arms, an RF deflecting cavity and a phase space tomography module will extend the existing diagnostic system of the photo injector and will contribute to the full characterization of new electron sources. We report on the latest developments of the beam diagnostics at PITZ.

We report results from recent 2.1 GHz superconducting radio frequency (SRF) photonic band gap (PBG) resonator experiments at Los Alamos. Two 2.1 GHz PBG cells with elliptical rods were fabricated and tested at high power in a liquid helium bath at the temperatures of 4 K and below 2 K. The described SRF PBG cells were designed with a particular emphasis on changing the shape of the PBG rods to reduce peak surface magnetic fields and at the same time to preserve its effectiveness at damping higher-order-modes. The superconducting PBG cavities have great potential for damping long-range wakefields in SRF accelerator structures without affecting the fundamental accelerating mode. The cells performed in accordance with simulation's predictions and the maximum achieved accelerating gradient was 18.3 MV/m. This represents a 30% increase over gradients previously demonstrated in superconducting PBG cavities with round rods.

We have included the effects of losses in the grating surface and reflections at the ends of the grating in the theory of Smith-Purcell free-electron lasers. Computations show that losses typically increase the start current by about 10%. The complex reflection coefficient for the evanescent wave is computed using numerical simulations, and is found to have a magnitude on the order of 30%. This typically increases or decreases the start current by about 10%, depending on the phase of the round-trip reflection.