Analysis of vapor diffusion Nb3Sn coating at Fermilab: Minimizing impurities using TOF-SIMS
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Nb₃Sn demonstrates steady advancements nowadays offering reduced power cost in superconducting radio-frequency cavities due to its high critical temperature, quality factor, and achieved accelerating gradient. However, theoretical estimates of its radio-frequency parameters have not been achieved due to several potentially limiting mechanisms: tin spots, patchy regions, defects, thermal impedance, and impurities. While some of these limitations have been intensively studied, impurity analysis in Nb$_3$Sn coatings have received less attention. We report an investigation of impurities in several vapor-diffused Nb₃Sn coated samples using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) and show allowable impurity levels in view of superconducting cavity performance. Challenges and lessons learned in maintaining clean Nb$_3$Sn coatings are also discussed.
Source: JACOW
Language: English
Subfield: Aerospace Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7126059364
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