A high gradient test of a single-cell superconducting radio frequency cavity with a feedback waveguide

The most severe problem of the international linear collider (ILC-type) is its high cost, resulting in part from the enormous length of the collider. This length is determined mainly by the achievable accelerating gradient in the RF system of the collider. In current technology, the maximum acceleration gradient in superconducting (SC) structures is determined mainly by the value of the surface RF magnetic field. In order to increase the gradient, a superconducting traveling wave accelerating (STWA) structure is suggested. Utilization of STWA structure with small phase advance per cell for future high energy linear colliders such as ILCs may provide an accelerating gradient 1.2-1.4 times larger [1] than a standing wave structure. However, STWA structure requires a feedback waveguide for power redirecting from the end of the structure back to the front end of accelerating structure. Recent tests of a 1.3 GHz model of a single-cell cavity with waveguide feedback demonstrated an accelerating gradient comparable to the gradient of a single-cell ILC-type cavity from the same manufacturer [2]. In the present paper, high gradient test results are presented.