Design of a low-β, 2-gap spoke resonator for the AAA project

In this paper, we present the electromagnetic and structural design of a low-β superconducting spoke resonator for a beam-test in the Low Energy Demonstration Accelerator (LEDA). This test is part of the Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA) project. Recently, the use of superconducting resonators for energies greater than 6.7 MeV has been approved. The beam test will use the lowest-β resonator from this accelerator design. The choices of the cavity dimensions are driven by its use immediately downstream of the LEDA Radio-Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ). The frequency is 350 MHz. The length corresponds to a geometric β (β_g) of 0.175. Our design approach has been to carry out an integrated RF and mechanical design from the start. The final cavity is well understood in terms of RF and mechanical properties. The RF properties, like Q, R/Q, peak surface fields and acceleration efficiency are very reasonable for such a low-β structure. The design also includes power coupler, vacuum and pick-up ports and their influences. The mechanical design added tuning sensitivities, tuning forces, stiffening schemes and the understanding of stresses under various load conditions