COMPARISON OF PHOTODESORPTION YIELDS FROM ALUMINUM, STAINLESS AND CU-PLATED BEAM TUBES

Photon Stimulated Desorption (PSD) from the walls of beam ducts constitutes the most serious gas load in storage rings and therefore exerts a great influence on both beam quality and lifetime. With the exception of the SSC which plans to use a Cu-plated beam tube, all existing and proposed machines use either aluminum or stainless steel beam tubes. In order to develop techniques for producing surfaces with the lowest PSD, we have studied the above materials using a dedicated beam line at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS). Three meter long tubes were exposed to white light beams having critical energy of 500 eV and the desorption yields were measured as a function of beam dose. Several treatments commonly used for cleaning surfaces (prebaked, baked, fired, chemically cleaned and dc glow discharged) were investigated, and their relative merits are discussed. The results from sample tube measurements are compared with those from the X-ray ring Al beam tube during operation. The agreement is found to be quite good. Glow discharge cleaned stainless steel exhibited the lowest desorption yield.