Identifying the loss mechanisms of niobium cavities enables an accurate determination of applications for future accelerator projects and points to research topics required to mitigate current limitations. For several cavities an increasing surface resistance above a threshold field, saturating at higher field has been observed. Measurements on samples give evidence that this effect is caused by the surface electric field. The measured temperature and frequency dependence is consistent with a model that accounts for these losses by interface tunnel exchange between localized states in oxides formed along grain boundaries and the adjacent superconductor.
Recently, Nb superconducting radio frequency cavities vacuum heat treated between 300-400 C for a few hours have exhibited very high quality factors (~5x10^10 at 2.0 K). New secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements of O, N and C show this enhancement in RF surface conductivity is primarily associated with interstitial O alloying via dissolution and diffusion of the native oxide. We use a theory of oxide decomposition and O diffusion to quantify previously unknown parameters crucial in modeling this process. RF measurements of a vacuum heat treated Nb superconducting radio frequency cavity …
Utilizing difference in temperature dependencies we decoupled BCS and residual components of the microwave surface resistance of superconducting niobium at all rf fields up to $B_\mathrm{rf}\sim110$ mT. We reveal that the residual resistance decreases with field at $B_\mathrm{rf} \lesssim$ 40 mT and strongly increases in chemically treated niobium at $B_\mathrm{rf} > 80$ mT. We find that BCS surface resistance is weakly dependent on field in the clean limit, whereas a strong and peculiar field dependence emerges after $120^\circ$C vacuum baking.
We propose a model to explain power dissipation leading to the formation of hot spots in the inner walls of niobium thin film superconducting RF cavities. The physical mechanism that we explore is due to the constriction of surface electrical current flow at grain interface boundaries. This constriction creates an additional electrical contact resistance which induces localized punctual heat dissipation. The temperature at these spots is derived; and the electrical contact resistance is shown to depend on the magnetic field, on the gain contact size over which dissipation occurs, and on other …
Niobium thin film wires were fabricated using electron beam lithography with a four layer liftoff mask system, and subsequently thinned by anodisation. The resistance along the wire was monitored in situ and trimmed by controlling the anodisation voltage. Depending on the room temperature sheet resistance, samples showed either superconducting or insulating behaviour at low temperatures. A Coulomb blockade was observed for samples exceeding 6 kOhm per square. Samples were also made in a single electron transistor-like geometry with two weak links made by combined angular evaporation and anodis…
We report a strong effect of the cooling dynamics through $T_\mathrm{c}$ on the amount of trapped external magnetic flux in superconducting niobium cavities. The effect is similar for fine grain and single crystal niobium and all surface treatments including electropolishing with and without 120$^\circ$C baking and nitrogen doping. Direct magnetic field measurements on the cavity walls show that the effect stems from changes in the flux trapping efficiency: slow cooling leads to almost complete flux trapping and higher residual resistance while fast cooling leads to the much more efficient flu…
Superconducting niobium film cavities deposited on copper substrates (Nb/Cu) have suffered from strong field-dependent surface resistance, often referred to as the Q-slope problem, since their invention. We argue that the Q-slope may not be an intrinsic problem, but rather originates from a combination of factors which can be revealed in appropriate environmental conditions. In this study, extrinsic effects were carefully minimized in a series of experiments on a seamless cavity. The origin of the Q-slope in low frequency cavities is traced back to two contributions with different temperature …
Long standing data from niobium thin film accelerating cavities will be revisited and analysed by a modified London model of RF superconductivity. Firstly, the applicability of this model is explored using data of the BCS surface resistance and its dependence on the RF magnetic field, temperature and mean free path. Secondly, the RF losses from trapped magnetic flux are analysed with regard to their dependence on these same parameters.
The experimental investigation of the $I_c(B)$--$T_c(B)$ phase boundary of superconducting niobium films with large area quasihexagonal hole arrays is reported. The hole arrays were patterned with microsphere photolithography. We investigate the perforated niobium films by means of electrical directed current transport measurements close to the transition temperature $T_c$ in perpendicularly applied magnetic fields. We find pronounced modulations of the critcal current with applied magnetic field, which we interpret as a consequence of commensurable states between the Abrikosov vortex lattice …
Identifying the loss mechanisms of niobium film cavities enables an accurate determination of applications for future accelerator projects and points to research topics required to mitigate their limitations. Measurements on samples show that the electric field is a dominant loss mechanism for niobium films, acting through interface tunneling between localized states in surface oxides and delocalized states in the superconducting niobium.
In niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerating cavities a decrease of the quality factor at lower fields - a so called \emph{low field Q slope or LFQS} - has been a long-standing unexplained effect. By extending the high $Q$ measurement techniques to ultralow fields we discover two previously unknown features of the effect: i) saturation at rf fields lower than $E_\mathrm{acc} \sim 0.1$~MV/m; ii) strong degradation enhancement by growing thicker niobium pentoxide. Our findings suggest that the LFQS may be caused by the two level systems in the natural niobium oxide on the inner …
We present the results of from DC magnetization and penetration depth measurements of cylindrical bulk large-grain (LG) and fine-grain (FG) niobium samples used for the fabrication of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. The surface treatment consisted of electropolishing and low temperature baking as they are typically applied to SRF cavities. The magnetization data were fitted using a modified critical state model. The critical current density Jc and pinning force Fp are calculated from the magnetization data and their temperature dependence and field dependence are presented. The…
Superconducting spintronics in hybrid superconductor/ferromagnet (S-F) heterostructures provides an exciting potential new class of device. The prototypical super-spintronic device is the superconducting spin-valve, where the critical temperature, $T_c$, of the S-layer can be controlled by the relative orientation of two (or more) F-layers. Here, we show that such control is also possible in a simple S/F bilayer. Using field history to set the remanent magnetic state of a thin Er layer, we demonstrate for a Nb/Er bilayer a high level of control of both $T_c$ and the shape of the resistive tran…
We characterize a niobium-based superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor (Nb-SQUIPT) built upon a Nb-Cu-Nb SNS weak link. The Nb-SQUIPT and SNS devices are fabricated simultaneously in two separate lithography and deposition steps, relying on Ar ion cleaning of the Nb contact surfaces. The quality of the Nb-Cu interface is characterized by measuring the temperature-dependent equilibrium critical supercurrent of the SNS junction. In the Nb-SQUIPT device, we observe a maximum flux-to-current transfer function value of about 55 nA/Φ_0 in the sub-gap regime of bias voltages. This …
Flux flow properties for clean and dirty superconducting limits in strong pinning niobium films are studied. Measurements of electric field vs current density characteristics at high J values (J = 10^{6} A/cm^{2}) are successfully compared to theoretical models of flux flow and of flux flow instability in a large range of temperatures and magnetic fields. The non-linear regime at high dissipation is analysed in the frame of a modified Larkin Ovchinnikov model that takes into account a quasiparticles heating effect. This model elaborated by Bezuglyj and Shklovskij (BS) defines a transition magn…
The nature and concentration of defects near niobium-silicon interfaces prepared with different silicon surface treatments were characterized using current-voltage (I-V), deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). All samples have H, C, O, F, and Cl chemical contamination in the Si within 50 nm of the interface and electrically active defects with activation energies of 0.147, 0.247, 0.339, and 0.556 eV above the valence band maximum (E$_{vbm}$). In all cases, the deep level defect concentration is dominated by the hole trap at E$_{vbm}$ + 0.556eV, wh…
There is a need to better understand the intrinsic limit of radiofrequency (RF) surface impedance that determines the performance of superconducting RF cavities in particle accelerators. Here we present a field-dependent derivation of Mattis-Bardeen (M-B) theory of the RF surface impedance of BCS superconductors based on the shifted Density of States (DoS) resulting from coherently moving Cooper pairs [1].The surprising reduction in resistance with increasing field is explained to be an intrinsic effect. Using this analysis coded in MathematicaTM, survey calculations have been completed which …
In this paper, we describe the vortex dynamics under high-amplitude microwave drive and its effect on the surface resistance of superconductors. The vortex surface resistance is calculated with a Montecarlo approach, where the vortex motion equation is solved for a collection of vortex flux lines each oscillating within a random pinning landscape. This approach is capable of providing a detailed description of the microscopic vortex dynamics and in turn important insights into the microwave field amplitude dependence of the vortex surface resistance. The numerical simulations are compared agai…
Thermal stability is an important parameter for the operation of the superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities used in particle accelerators. The rf power dissipated on the inner surface of the cavities is conducted to the helium bath cooling the outer cavity surface and the equilibrium temperature of the inner surface depends on the thermal resistance. In this manuscript, we present the results of direct measurements of thermal resistance on 1.3 GHz single cell SRF cavities made from high purity large grain and fine grain niobium as well as their rf performance for different treatments a…
An apparatus was developed to obtain, for the first time, 2D maps of the surface resistance of the inner surface of an operating superconducting radio-frequency niobium cavity by a low-temperature laser scanning microscopy technique. This allows identifying non-uniformities of the surface resistance with a spatial resolution of about one order of magnitude better than with earlier methods and surface resistance resolution of ~ 1 micro-Ohm at 3.3 GHz. A signal-to-noise ratio of about 10 dB was obtained with 240 mW laser power and 1 Hz modulation frequency. The various components of the apparatu…
We report the proximity induced anomalous transport behavior in a Nb Bi1.95Sb0.05Se3 heterostructure. Mechanically Exfoliated single crystal of Bi1.95Sb0.05Se3 topological insulator (TI) is partially covered with a 100 nm thick Niobium superconductor using DC magnetron sputtering by shadow masking technique. The magnetotransport (MR) measurements have been performed simultaneously on the TI sample with and without Nb top layer in the temperature,T, range of 3 to 8 K, and a magnetic field B up to 15 T. MR on TI region shows Subnikov de Haas oscillation at fields greater than 5 T. Anomalous line…
