Recently, the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Dongjiang Laboratory have made important progress in the application of radio frequency superconductivity of niobium tritin materials, and the developed niobium tritin solid conduction cooling superconducting electron accelerator has achieved stable loading for the first time in the world.
The picture shows a solid-conduction-cooled niobium tritin electron superconducting accelerator
Experts from the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Peking University, University of Science and Technology of China, Sichuan University, and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences listened to the development and test report of the project team, and conducted field tests on the solid conduction cooled niobium tritin superconducting electron accelerator. The maximum energy of the accelerated electron beam reaches 4.6 MeV, and the macro pulse current intensity exceeds 100 mA.
The figure shows a stable acceleration record of a Faraday barrel measuring a macropulse flow intensity of ~180mA
According to reports, the superconducting transition temperature of niobium tritin material is twice that of niobium metal, which is the main breakthrough direction of the next generation of RF superconducting materials, and is also the frontier research hotspot and competitive commanding heights in the field of RF superconductivity. The application of niobium tritin can significantly reduce the thermal load, increase the operating temperature of RF superconducting accelerators, and simplify their system complexity. It can not only reduce the demand and operation and maintenance costs of large-scale cryogenic systems for superconducting accelerators, but also promote the miniaturization and industrial application of RF superconducting accelerators.
Since 2018, the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has taken the lead in carrying out research on niobium-tritin RF superconductivity technology in China, realizing the whole process of niobium-tritin superconducting film from equipment, mechanism to process. After 2022, the team has been supported by the scientific research platform project of the Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Advanced Energy Science and Technology, completed the key technological breakthrough in the system integration and application of niobium tritin RF superconducting technology, and completed the successful development and stable beam of the solid conduction cooled niobium tritin superconducting electron accelerator for the first time in the world.
This achievement provides a demonstration and verification for the system integration and beam stabilization acceleration of the niobium-tin superconducting accelerator, which is of great significance for China to realize the leap from following and running to leading in the field of next-generation RF superconducting technology. It will help Continental seize the historical opportunity of RF superconducting technology to get rid of the shackles of liquid helium and enter practical use, and occupy the technological peak in the field of industrial accelerators. It has broad application prospects in environmental protection fields such as wastewater and waste gas treatment, national security fields such as special testing equipment, medical and health fields such as isotope production, and agricultural and biological fields such as fresh-keeping and antivirus.
The picture shows the expert group at the on-site acceptance in the accelerator tunnel