Considerations for design of a micropositioner for cryogenic accelerators

The authors describe design considerations for load-bearing low-thermal-conductance micropositioners used with cryogenic particle-accelerating components. They also provide a description of initial prototypes, details of their expected and actual performance, and a discussion of the possible sources of observed inaccuracies. The complete redesign of these positioners improved their thermal and positioning performance and reduced fabrication cost while maintaining their high load-carrying capacity, precise positioning capability, and minimal hysteresis. The authors discuss the performance of the redesigned positioners and potential additional improvements. The results obtained are pertinent to the alignment of the Ground Test Accelerator (GTA).<>