The SUPRATECH research platform is dedicated to R&D on superconducting accelerating cavities intended to constitute future powerful accelerators of high-energy particles. It provides all the equipment necessary to prepare, condition, assemble and test a superconductive cavity and its associated components, with in particular: an ISO4 clean room, a laboratory for surface treatment by chemical etching, an oven for thermal treatment under vacuum, an installation producing superfluid liquid helium, a calibration station for cryogenic thermometers, as well as various experimental zones equipped with RF power sources and several cryostats also allowing generic tests at cryogenic temperatures.
The platform consists of:
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- an etching laboratory, where the cavity surfaces are treated in acidic baths, in order to eliminate all defects likely to generate electron spurious emissions.
- an ISO4 cleanroom, a high-technology equipment (covering 80 m2, 50m2 of which are class10) which is the essential link for the cleaning and assembly of superconducting cavities.
- an assembly hall, dedicated to the integration of the cryostats,
- two experimental halls, equipped with vertical and horizontal cryostats to test and RF validate the cavities.
To optimize the use of these infrastructures, the platform is equipped with :
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- RF power sources operating at 88 MHz, 350 MHz and 700 MHz frequencies,
- a station including a helium liquefier and its associated recovery and compression system ; this very expensive gas, the release into the atmosphere of which would be anti ecological and which is here carefully recycled.
- a 400 kW cooling system (HF sources)