Electron stimulated carbon adsorption in ultra high vacuum monitored by Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES)

Electron stimulated carbon adsorption at room temperature (RT) has been studied in the context of radiation induced surface modifications in the vacuum system of particle accelerators. The stimulated carbon adsorption was monitored by AES during continuous irradiation by 2.5 keV electrons and simultaneous exposure of the sample surface to CO, CO2 or CH4. The amount of adsorbed carbon was estimated by measuring the carbon Auger peak intensity as a function of the electron irradiation time. Investigated substrate materials are technical OFE copper and TiZrV non-evaporable getter (NEG) thin film coatings, which are saturated either in air or by CO exposure inside the Auger electron spectrometer. On the copper substrate electron induced carbon adsorption from gas phase CO and CO2 is below the detection limit of AES. During electron irradiation of the non-activated TiZrV getter thin films, electron stimulated carbon adsorption from gas phase molecules is detected when either CO or CO2 is injected, whereas the CH4 partial pressure has no influence on the C-KLL intensity evolution

Cleaning and surface properties

Principles of precision cleaning for ultra high vacuum applications are reviewed together with the techniques for the evaluation of surface cleanliness. Methods to verify the effectiveness of cleaning procedures are discussed. Examples are presented to illustrate the influence of packaging and storage on the recontamination of the surface after cleaning. Finally, the effect of contamination on some relevant surface properties, like secondary electron emission and wettability is presented

The secondary electron yield of air exposed metal surfaces at the example of niobium

The secondary electron yield (SEY) variation of atomically clean metal surfaces due to air exposures and during subsequent heat treatments is described with the example of a sputter-deposited Nb thin film. Corresponding variations of the surface chemical composition have been monitored using AES and SSIMS. On the basis of these results and of previously obtained SEY results on metals and metal oxides the origin of the SEY variations is discussed. The SEY increase, which is generally observed during long lasting air exposures of clean metals, is mainly caused by the adsorption of an airborne carbonaceous contamination layer. The estimated value of about 3 for the maximum SEY of this layer is higher than that of all pure metals. Only in some cases the air-formed oxide can contribute to the air exposure induced SEY increase while many oxides have a lower SEY than their parent metals. From the experimental data it can also be excluded that the SEY increase during air exposures is mainly due to an increased secondary electron escape probability

Lowering the activation temperature of TiZrV non-evaporable getter films

In order to reduce the activation temperature of the TiZrV alloy, thin films of various compositions were produced by three-cathode magnetron sputtering on stainless steel substrates. For the characterisation of the activation behaviour the surface chemical composition has been monitored by Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) during specific in situ thermal cycles. The volume elemental composition of the film has been measured by Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and the morphology (crystal structure and size of the crystallites) has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The criteria indicating the sample quality and its dependence on film structure and chemical composition are presented and discussed

Carbon coating of the SPS dipole chambers

The Electron Multipacting (EM) phenomenon is a limiting factor for the achievement of high luminosity in accelerators for positively charged particles and for the performance of RF devices. At CERN, the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) must be upgraded in order to feed the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with 25 ns bunch spaced beams. At such small bunch spacing, EM may limit the performance of the SPS and consequently that of the LHC. To mitigate this phenomenon CERN is developing a carbon thin film coating with low Secondary Electron Yield (SEY) to coat the internal walls of the SPS dipoles beam pipes. This paper presents the progresses in the coating technology, the performance of the carbon coatings and the strategy for a large scale production.Comment: 7 pages, contribution to the Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects: ECLOUD'12; 5-9 Jun 2012, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Italy; CERN Yellow Report CERN-2013-002, pp.141-14

Electron cloud buildup and impedance effects on beam dynamics in the future circular e+e− collider and experimental characterization of thin TiZrV vacuum chamber coatings

The Future Circular Collider FCC-ee is a study toward a high luminosity electron-positron collider with a centre-of-mass energy from 91 GeV to 365 GeV. Due to the beam parameters and pipe dimensions, collective effects and electron cloud can be very critical aspects for the machine and can represent the main limitations to its performance. An estimation of the electron cloud build up in the main machine components and an impedance model are required to analyze the induced instabilities and to find solutions for their mitigation. Special attention has been given to the resistive wall impedance associated with a layer of nonevaporable getter (NEG) coating on the vacuum chamber required for electron cloud mitigation. The studies presented in this paper will show that minimizing the thickness of this coating layer is mandatory to increase the single bunch instability thresholds in the proposed lepton collider at 45.6 GeV. For this reason, NEG thin films with thicknesses below 250 nm have been investigated by means of numerical simulations to minimize the resistive wall impedance. In parallel, an extensive measurement campaign was performed at CERN to characterize these thin films, with the purpose of finding the minimum effective thickness satisfying vacuum and electron cloud requirements

Novel types of anti-ecloud surfaces

In high power RF devices for space, secondary electron emission appears as the main parameter governing the multipactor effect and as well as the e-cloud in large accelerators. Critical experimental activities included development of coatings with low secondary electron emission yield (SEY) for steel (large accelerators) and aluminium (space applications). Coatings with surface roughness of high aspect ratio producing the so-call secondary emission suppression effect appear as the selected strategy. In this work a detailed study of the SEY of these technological coatings and also the experimental deposition methods (PVD and electrochemical) are presented. The coating-design approach selected for new low SEY coatings include rough metals (Ag, Au, Al), rough alloys (NEG), particulated and magnetized surfaces, and also graphene like coatings. It was found that surface roughness also mitigate the SEY deterioration due to aging processes.Comment: 4 pages, contribution to the Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects: ECLOUD'12; 5-9 Jun 2012, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Italy; CERN Yellow Report CERN-2013-002, pp.153-15

Role of surface microgeometries on electron escape probability and secondary electron yield of metal surfaces

The influence of microgeometries on the Secondary Electron Yield (SEY) of surfaces is investigated. Laser written structures of different aspect ratio (height to width) on a copper surface tuned the SEY of the surface and reduced its value to less than unity. The aspect ratio of microstructures was methodically controlled by varying the laser parameters. The results obtained corroborate a recent theoretical model of SEY reduction as a function of the aspect ratio of microstructures. Nanostructures - which are formed inside the microstructures during the interaction with the laser beam - provided further reduction in SEY comparable to that obtained in the simulation of structures which were coated with an absorptive layer suppressing secondary electron emission

Ion-stimulated gas desorption yields and their dependence on the surface preparation of stainless steel

Ion-induced gas desorption yields were investigated for 4.2 MeV/u lead ions incident on 316 LN stainless steel surfaces. Focussed on a possible application for the Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR) vacuum system, the influence of surface treatments like chemical etching, electropolishing and gold-coating on the desorption yields was studied with accelerator-type vacuum chambers. The surface composition of similar prepared samples was investigated with X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS). Desorption yields for H2, CH4, CO, Ar and CO2, which are of fundamental interest for LEIR and future accelerator applications, are reported as a function of impact angle, ion dose and charge state (+27, +53) of the lead ion beam

The variation of the secondary electron yield and of the desorption yield of copper under electron bombardment: Origin and impact on the conditioning of the LHC

The operation of most radio-frequency components in accelerators rely on the conditioning obtained usually by gradually increasing the power fed into these devices. This effect is related to the reduction of the desorption yields and of the secondary electron yields of surfaces exposed to electron bombardment. In LHC, similar decreases will also limit the detrimental consequences of the electron cloud phenomenon on the beam stability, the power deposited in the cryogenic system and the gas density. The parallel evolution of the desorption yield and of the secondary electron yield will be discussed and compared to the changes to the surface composition as observed by surface analytical techniques. The possible origin of the secondary electron yield decrease will also be discussed at the light of these new results