Plasma treatment of bulk niobium surface for SRF cavities

摘要

Pulsed electric discharges were used to demonstrate the validity of plasma surface treatment of superconducting radio-frequency cavities. The experiments were performed on disc-shaped Nb samples and compared with identical samples treated with buffer chemical polishing techniques. The results of several standard surface analytical techniques indicate that plasma-treated samples have comparable or superior properties regarding the surface roughness and composition.