Continuous wave superconducting radio frequency electron linac for nuclear physics research

• Main Author: Charles E. Reece
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society 2016-12-01
• Series: Physical Review Accelerators and Beams
• Online Access: http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.124801

CEBAF, the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, has been actively serving the nuclear physics research community as a unique forefront international resource since 1995. This cw electron linear accelerator (linac) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) has continued to evolve as a precision tool for discerning the structure and dynamics within nuclei. Superconducting rf (SRF) technology has been the essential foundation for CEBAF, first as a 4 GeV machine, then 6 GeV, and currently capable of 12 GeV. We review the development, implementation, and performance of SRF systems for CEBAF from its early beginnings to the commissioning of the 12 GeV era.