Experimental studies of novel accelerator structures at 11 GHz and 17 GHz

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2015.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-185).Photonic band-gap (PBG) structures are promising candidates for electron accelerators capable of high-gradient operation because they have the inherent damping of high order modes required to avoid beam breakup due to instabilities. A key challenge for PBG structures is high-gradient operation without structure damage due to rf-field-induced breakdowns. This thesis reports theoretical results on the design of PBG structures and the generation of wakefields in such structures. It also reports experimental results on PBG structure breakdown testing at high power at both 11 and 17 GHz. A single-cell photonic band-gap (PBG) structure was designed with an inner row of elliptical rods (PBG-E) to reduce ohmic heating relative to a round-rod structure. The PBG-E structure was built and tested at high power at a 60 Hz repetition rate at X-Band (11.424 GHz) at the SLAC accelerator test stand, achieving a gradient of 128 MV/m at a breakdown probability of 3.6 x 10-3 per pulse per meter at a pulse length of 150 ns. The PBG-E structure showed major improvement in breakdown rate relative to a round-rod PBG structure designed at MIT and previously tested at SLAC. A test stand was designed and built at MIT for testing single-cell structures at 17.1 GHz, a frequency 50% higher than the SLAC frequency. This test stand provides comparable diagnostics to those used at SLAC, adding optical diagnostic access which can be used for open PBG structures. A conventional disc-loaded waveguide structure, MIT-DLWG, was tested at MIT at up to a 2 Hz repetition rate. This structure reached a maximum gradient of 87 MV/m at a breakdown probability of 1.19 x 10-1 per pulse per meter. A round-rod PBG structure, MIT-PBG-2, has also been tested at MIT at up to a 2 Hz repetition rate and 100 ns pulse length, demonstrating operation up to 89 MV/rn at a breakdown probability of 1.09 x 10-1 per pulse per meter. These test results show that a PBG structure can simultaneously operate at high gradients and low breakdown probability, while also providing wakefield damping. This makes PBG structures viable candidates for future collider applications.by Brian J. Munroe.Ph. D