SRF Test Lab Open House Ready
A five-celled niobium cavity is displayed inside the SRF Test Lab at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Va., on Friday, June 7, 2024. (Aileen Devlin | Jefferson Lab)
Niobium, at room temperature, has electrical resistance and behaves just like copper. If, however, niobium is cooled to very low temperatures, it loses all electrical resistance and becomes what scientists call a superconductor. Since superconductors have no electrical resistance, electrical currents flowing through them do not lose any energy and do not produce any waste heat. If no heat is created, the cavities can not heat up and the accelerator does not need to shut down to allow them to cool. The use of superconductive niobium cavities allows the accelerator to provide a continuous beam of electrons to the experiments.
SRF Test Lab Open House Ready
A five-celled niobium cavity is displayed inside the SRF Test Lab at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Va., on Friday, June 7, 2024. (Aileen Devlin | Jefferson Lab)
Niobium, at room temperature, has electrical resistance and behaves just like copper. If, however, niobium is cooled to very low temperatures, it loses all electrical resistance and becomes what scientists call a superconductor. Since superconductors have no electrical resistance, electrical currents flowing through them do not lose any energy and do not produce any waste heat. If no heat is created, the cavities can not heat up and the accelerator does not need to shut down to allow them to cool. The use of superconductive niobium cavities allows the accelerator to provide a continuous beam of electrons to the experiments.