Superconducting Materials for High-Energy Physics

Sponsoring University:

Northern Illinois University

Course:

Superconducting Materials for High-Energy Physics

Instructors:

Lance Cooley, Florida State University and Applied Superconductivity Center, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Purpose and Audience
This course aims to instruct senior undergraduate and graduate students, national laboratory engineers and technicians, and industry technical staff the science and technology of superconducting materials. The course is designed for those who plan, or are actively engaged in, a career working with particle accelerators, high-field magnets, or SRF cavities.

Prerequisites

• Undergraduate materials science or metallurgy at the level of Callister and Rethwisch Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction ISBN: 978-1-119-40549-8
• Undergraduate solid state physics at the level of Charles Kittel Introduction to Solid State Physics ISBN: 978-0-471-41526-8
• Undergraduate electricity and magnetism at the level of Purcell and Morin Electricity and Magnetism (3rd edition in SI units) ISBN: 978-1-107-014022
• Undergraduate quantum mechanics at the level of Gasiorowicz Quantum Physics ISBN: 978-0-471-05700-0
  
  

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they meet the course prerequisites or have equivalent experience.

Objectives
The course seeks to provide understanding of the rationale for materials used in particle accelerators, spanning theory and mechanisms, fundamental limits to performance, practical engineering limits, processing, quality assurance and control, testing, and material specifications. Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to demonstrate knowledge about the theoretical mechanisms of superconductivity, understand how properties change because of changes in structure or composition; perform basic engineering calculations, understand how to set up experimental techniques for property measurements, and retain encyclopedic knowledge about the major superconducting materials and how they are applied in accelerators.

Instructional Method
The course incorporates lectures during morning and parts of afternoon sessions, followed by interactive discussions and homework or laboratory work during afternoon sessions. Discussions will address topics that relate to accelerator applications and will exemplify major lecture topics. Laboratory work will be modular and focus on characterizations done in a superconducting materials lab. Students will complete problem sets outside of class time and will submit laboratory and homework reports.

Course Content
Lectures will begin with fundamental understanding of superconducting properties and their origins in the make-up of materials, covering BCS, Ginzburg-Landau, and exotic theories of superconductivity. Topics will focus on quantities that drive performance of accelerator magnets and linacs while introducing other themes for independent consideration. The course will then overview the engineering materials available today and the key aspects of their fabrication into long-length conductors and SRF cavity bodies. This will include discussions of metallurgy and forming, processing, property optimization, and cost. Characterization techniques to assess superconducting properties will follow, integrating basic property understanding with real architectures of strands and cables. Special topics, including quenching and stability, strain effects, and SRF cavities will conclude the lecture content.

Reading Requirements
(to be provided by the USPAS) Michael Tinkham Introduction to Superconductivity ISBN: 978-0-486-43503-9. Selections (ebook) from Handbook of Superconductivity, Edited By David A. Cardwell, David C. Larbalestier, and Aleksander Braginski, ISBN: 978-0-429-17918-1.

Credit Requirements:
Students will be evaluated based on performance on homework and lab work (70% of final grade) and a final exam (30%).

USPAS Computer Requirements
There will be no Computer Lab and all participants are required to bring their own portable computer to access online course notes and computer resources. This can be a laptop or a tablet with a sufficiently large screen and keyboard. Windows, Mac, and Linux-based systems that are wifi capable and have a standard web browser and mouse are all acceptable. You should have privileges for software installs. If you are unable to bring a computer, please contact uspas@fnal.gov ASAP to request a laptop loan. Very limited IT support and spare loaner laptops will be available during the session.

Michigan State University course number: PHY 905 - 703
Indiana University course number: Physics 671, Advanced Topics in Accelerator Physics
MIT course number: 8.790, Accelerator Physics