Speaker
Description
The focus of next-generation SRF cavities has increasingly shifted towards materials capable of sustaining high-gradient continuous-wave operation at 4.2K. Material candidates capable of this feature need lower BCS resistance than niobium and must be free of defects that cause thermal instability and/or quench. Among these candidates, Nb3Sn has emerged as the leading alternative, while others have failed to reach practical acceleration fields. We report RF performance and surface characterization results for Nb3Al, which is now only the second material to demonstrate stable operation at practical fields. Results indicate that Nb3Al is less defect-sensitive than Nb3Sn and, while recipe optimization has only recently begun, shows the potential to have improved RF performance relative to niobium.