Performance analysis of superconducting rf cavities for the CERN rare isotope accelerator

The first cryomodule of the new HIE-ISOLDE rare isotope accelerator has recently been commissioned with beam at CERN, with the second cryomodule ready for installation. Each cryomodule contains five superconducting low-beta quarter wave cavities, produced with the technology of sputtering a thin niobium film onto the copper substrate (Nb/Cu). This technology has several benefits compared to the bulk niobium solution, but also drawbacks among which the most relevant is the increase of surface resistance with accelerating field. Recent work has established the possible connection of this phenomenon to local defects in the Nb/Cu interface, which may lead to increased thermal impedance and thus local thermal runaway. We have analyzed the performance of the HIE-ISOLDE cavities series production, as well as of a few prototypes', in terms of this model, and found a strong correlation between the rf properties and one of the model characteristic quantities, namely the total surface having increased interface thermal impedance.